The Girl With the Midnight Eyes
by sweet-heya-kisses
Summary: Santana Lopez, the school's new bully, is a tranfer student at McKinley High. What happens when the school nerd - Brittany S. Pierce - falls for her badass ways? Brittana romance, Bram friendship.
1. Chapter 1

The stentorian introduction to Dashboard Confessional's _Vindicated_ awoke the sleeping girl and sent her heartbeat into frenzy. She threw out her hand in search of her cell phone while attempting to settle her abrupt panic. As her hand located the deafening sound, she quickly set to work shutting off her alarm, rolling back over in her sheets and giving a sigh of both relief and frustration. It was Monday morning already?

The girl reluctantly lifted off her warm sheets and pulled herself out of bed. Wiping the sleep from her eyes and stretching out her muscles, she reached for her glasses that lay on her bedside table and waddled across her room to rifle through her wardrobe. Just as she picked out her clothes, she heard her mother's voice calling to her from the bottom of the stairs. "Brittany! Are you up yet?"

Brittany inwardly groaned and called - more like mumbled - a reply to her mother.

"Getting dressed!"

"Don't forget to put your 'jamas in the wash!"

Brittany dropped her eyes to her light blue cotton pyjamas with pale yellow ducks randomly spotted about the material, and she began unbuttoning the shirt. After placing her pyjamas in a neat pile at the end of her bed, she pulled on a fluffy sweater, a plain brown skirt and a pair of high-knee socks. Taking several minutes to tidy up her hair and adjust her outfit - deciding to tuck her sweater into her skirt - Brittany scooped up her pyjamas and headed down to breakfast.

"Morning, Sweet-Pea," greeted her father. Brittany gently placed her pyjamas by the washing machine and sat by him, receiving a good-morning kiss on the temple. She grumbled a response and reached for the Lucky Charms.

"Someone's energetic this morning," commented her mother as she entered the kitchen with a stack of envelopes.

"Tired..." Brittany said unenthusiastically, whilst scattering her multi-coloured cereal into a bowl.

"And good morning to you too, Sweetie," her mother laughed, ruffling Brittany's pre-brushed blonde hair as she passed. Brittany - of course - mumbled and scrunched up her face.

Her mother joined the two of them at the table. Although Brittany was tired and grumpy, she still noticed something was missing. "Where Jamie?" she asked, pouring milk over her cereal and reaching for a spoon. She instantly regretted saying anything as she stuffed her mouth with Lucky Charms.

Her mother looked up from the mail. "Britt, go and wake your sister up."

Brittany rolled her eyes. She swallowed the cereal before breathing in a deep breath. "Ja-"

"Go _upstairs_ and wake your sister up," her mother corrected. Brittany groaned audibly and scraped her chair. Arms motionless and eyelids heavy, she dragged her feet up the stairs until she reached her sister's bedroom. Without bothering to knock, she pushed the door open and poked her neck through.

"Get up," she said brusquely. When her sister didn't respond - or make any attempt to acknowledge the girl's presence - Brittany picked up the closet object she could reach, which happened to be a hardback edition of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, and launched it at the bed. A cry of pain from under the sheets followed a humorous thud, and Brittany had to muffle her amusement.

"Mom says get up," Brittany simply stated.

A sleepy bed-headed girl appeared into view and squinted angrily. "Bitch."

"Whatever you say," Brittany shrugged, making to exit the room.

"Rug-Muncher!" Brittany turned on her heel and headed back into Jamie's room. The look of panic in her sister's eyes was obvious to her, and a smug grin formed across her face. She reached towards the bed and, just as Jamie flinched, picked up the book.

Leaving the room, she muttered over her shoulder, "Stop pretending to read my books to impress your new boyfriend."

As she made her way back to her breakfast, she heard an unfamiliar voice. Her brow furrowed at this vicissitude and her curiosity crept in. The voice was that of a woman with a slightly miscellaneous accent.

Brittany walked into the kitchen and was greeted with a new face. "Brittany, this is Maribel Lopez. She just moved in opposite."

* * *

That morning, Brittany walked to school, as usual, letting her thoughts drift away into her own little world; only this time, her thoughts were occupying something in particular.

New neighbours.

And not only new neighbours across the street, but a new girl at school. After introducing herself to Brittany and her parents, and eventually a lethargic Jamie who had finally emerged from her nest, Maribel Lopez had spoken about her family; her husband was a doctor who had been transferred to Lima - hence their move of house - and they had a sixteen year old daughter, Santana.

Brittany found herself wondering what Santana would be like. Everybody knows high school is all about stereotypes and popularity; no matter how individual you are, everybody fits into categories. What category would Santana fall into?

She arrived to school at her usual time, followed her usual route through the corridors and endured her usual reaction from her classmates; mostly disregard, partly teasing. All through her Freshmen Year, Brittany had come to realise that she was a nobody. She wasn't on the Cheerios, she didn't have a football-player boyfriend. She wasn't even considered a 'normal' student at McKinley. And now halfway through her Sophomore Year, nothing had changed. Well, maybe one thing.

"Hey, Brittany," smiled Sam as he took his seat beside her. "What's up?"

"Oh. Hi, Sam." Brittany returned his smile. "Hey, have you heard about the new girl?"

Brittany had met Sam towards the beginning of her Sophomore Year after he had transferred from Kentucky; they instantly connected. Before Sam, she never really had many friends - well, she never really had _any_ friends at all.

"New girl?" Sam's brow furrowed.

"Santana Lopez. Her family moved in across the street from me," Brittany explained.

"What's she like?"

Brittany shrugged, "I've only met her mom - she introduced herself to my parents this morning. She spoke a lot of Spanish." Sam protruded his bottom lip and raised his eyebrows at his friend.

Brittany and Sam were early to class; her eyes turned to the classroom door as a swarm of Cheerios and Jocks entered - normally the last ones to arrive. As Brittany opened her mouth to speak again, she was distracted by the very last person through the door: not a Jock; not a Cheerio; not the teacher.

The new girl.

Dressed in a tight black and purple candy-striper dress, a cropped leather jacket and long leather boots, Santana Lopez walked into class, holding the strap of her backpack over one shoulder. Her long dark hair hung loose down her back and covered her right eye as she kept her head down, avoiding any type of eye contact with anyone in the room.

Brittany's eyes subtlety followed the girl's journey to an empty seat at the back of the class. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Sam staring down at his sketchbook - having not acknowledged Santana's appearance - and nudged his shoulder. Sam's eyes followed in the direction of Brittany's.

As Santana seated herself at the very back corner, her eyes finally lifted and she studied the classroom. Sam immediately diverted his eyes; Brittany wished she had too. The new girl's eyes were pretty, Brittany thought. But they were intense. They were the sort of eyes that conveyed ambiguity; Brittany didn't know whether Santana wanted to smile at her, or punch her in the face. Brittany knew she had to look away, so why didn't she?

Her stack of books went tumbling to the floor as the teacher walked in, surprising Brittany to flinch involuntarily. She quickly gathered the heap on the carpeted floor and neatly replaced her books on the corner of her desk, pushing her glasses up her nose and not daring to look behind her at those uncertain eyes once more.

* * *

Brittany didn't see the new girl again throughout the school day. She found herself wondering why on her walk home. Maybe Santana had spent the rest of the day in Figgins' office filling out paperwork; or maybe she had gone home after just a trial lesson; or maybe she had hidden herself from plain sight on intentionally. And then another thought intrigued her: how did Santana get to and from school? Brittany was certain she didn't walk or she would have noticed on her own journey to school...right? And she had seen Maribel Lopez getting into her car to go to work that morning - no Santana, and no other mode of transport parked in their driveway.

Regardless, Brittany shrugged off the thought as she shrugged off her school bag and placed it at the foot of her bed. As if on cue, her phone buzzed. She hardly needed to look at the text to know who it was from. _'You online?'_ Brittany smiled.

She settled onto her bed and opened up her laptop. In no time at all, she was logged in and replying in almost-person to her friend: "Hey, Sam-I-Am."

When Brittany and Sam had first met at the beginning of Sophomore Year, they soon realised that they shared a lot of common interests and secrets. Whilst everybody else in the school had often referred to Brittany as "that loner sci-fi nerd", things changed after bonding with Sam. Now everybody in the school referred to them both as "the nerd squad". Brittany had to admit - although the teasing never really got better - she much preferred being part of a squad to being alone.

Brittany waved into her webcam as she watched Sam's face on her screen. "Long time, no see," she joked. Sam scrunched his face up and mocked an amused laugh.

"Hey, you wanna see my comic? I finished it today in Math," Sam said happily, looking very pleased with himself.

"Weren't you supposed to be doing Math in Math?" Brittany questioned, crooking her head to the side.

Sam shrugged, "Math is boring and makes my head hurt; comics are fun and I'm good at them."

"Sure, let's see it," Brittany smiled. She watched her friend leave the screen, and briefly turned to her bedroom door as somebody entered. She made room beside her and patted the sheets. The springs in the mattress crunched marginally under the weight of Brittany's pet cat as he hopped up beside her and brushed his face against her knuckles. "Hey, Tubbers."

Sam appeared back on Brittany's computer screen holding his note pad, catching Lord Tubbington's attention. He bounded onto Brittany's lap and let out a low pitched noise – halfway between and growl and a purr, but still managing to sound like a friendly greeting.

Sam smiled. "Mew," he relied to the cat, before holding up his comic for Brittany to see over the webcam. Brittany heaved Lord Tubbington off of her lap and turned to the screen. She studied the hand-drawn comic which was of a short story he had created combining his – and Brittany's – two favourite things: Manga and Doctor Who.

"Sam, that's awesome!" Brittany praised. Sam's face appeared from above the comic.

"You think so?"

"Mew."

"See, Lord Tubbington agrees," Brittany pointed out.

Sam grinned, "Thanks, Tubbs." The cat purred contently whilst nuzzling his head against Brittany's thigh and curling into a ball.

Sam tenderly closed his notepad. No matter how much grief he and Brittany received for being the school nerds, their special friendship was worth it all. Given the choice of being popular and not having to put up with name-calling and slushies from upperclassmen, or being the bottom-of-the-school "geek" he was...

Brittany would always come first.

* * *

"Pass me the thingy," said Jamie insolently, wavering her hand in the air towards Brittany. Brittany swallowed her mouthful of peas and pulled a face at her sister.

"What _thingy_?" she asked, just as uncouthly.

Jamie groaned impatiently. "The thingy," she repeated, sounding intolerant of Brittany's obliviousness.

Brittany shrugged her shoulders and shook her head bemusedly.

Her sister rolled her eyes, scooped up a pea and flicked it across the table with her fork, landing it with a plop in the gravy pot. "The _thingy_!"

Brittany stared at the gravy pot for a moment, glanced at her sister with bewilderment, and then turned to her parents. "Am I wrong?"

Her mother spoke up, "Jamie, stop playing with your food. Brittany, pass your sister the thingy."

Brittany rolled her eyes again and sighed, and passed over the pot to her sister. "Thanks, Professor Lez-arus."

"You're not even funny," Brittany bit back.

"So..." interjected Mrs Pierce, hoping to avoid further conflict between her two daughters, "Brittany, how was school?"

"Oh, _Brittany_, how was school," complained Jamie. "Never mind me."

"It's 'cause you were adopted," Brittany smiled malevolently. "It was fine, mom."

"Anything new in Brittany-World? Or, you know, any-_one_ new?"

Jamie sniggered. Brittany glared at her; she hated when her mother referred to her social life as "Brittany-World", and she especially hated when she asked about Brittany's non-existent love life. For some unbeknown reason, her mother still seemed to think Brittany was popular at school. "Not really, mom." Her face fully showed her distress, although she tried her best to hide it.

"And how's Sam?" her mom asked casually.

"Still gay, mom."

Brittany's sister let out a highly amused laugh. Brittany flicked a pea at her. Ever since Brittany and Sam had become best friends, there hadn't once been an ounce of romantic attraction towards one another; but of course they didn't dishonestly deny that the other was attractive. In spite of each other's sexual orientation, Brittany's mother still seemed convinced that they would make the perfect couple – to which her sister had referred to them as "the loser version of Ken and Barbie".

* * *

After fleeing from a very awkward family conversation over dinner, Brittany hibernated to her bedroom. Before closing the door, she – of course – had to let in Lord Tubbington, who clambered up onto her bed and sprawled into the sheets.

"Tubbs..." The cat turned his head languidly in Brittany's direction and grumbled.

Brittany's room was filled with a mellow glow from her window. She flicked on her light, and walked across to draw her lightly-coloured curtains. The street outside her house was pretty at night. She almost didn't want to shut out the view. Regardless, that wasn't the reason she yanked her curtains back open.

Brittany hadn't had _much_ experience of crushing on someone – _any_ to be precise. She didn't know what _those_ feelings felt like towards another person, despite her celebrity crushes. There was nobody in particular at McKinley that ever really caught Brittany's eye, not that it mattered in the least; even if she did develop _those_ feelings towards somebody at school, there was no way anything would possibly come from it aside from further teasing and slushie facials.

Throughout the course of the day, Brittany could sense there was something distinct about her thoughts and feelings. Something she couldn't quite comprehend. Now stood in front of her window, gawking across the street with dilated pupils, she was beginning to believe she finally understood what _those_ feelings felt like.

Across the street, there was the new girl – stood in evident view from Brittany's window – in nothing but her underwear.

Brittany almost swallowed her own tongue.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, nor any of the other television shows/characters mentioned. **

**Thank you to the people that read my first chapter, I hope you enjoy this one.**

The guilt that lay in her conscience was enough to tell Brittany that she should look away, close the curtains and forget what she saw - but the quivering muscles at the back of her thighs and the butterflies in the pit of her stomach was telling her otherwise. Abruptly, a lump formed at the back of her throat, and she swallowed hard to try and clear it.

Brittany had seen girls getting changed many times in the locker rooms during gym. Most of the time it made no difference to her, but she had to admit that maybe a few had good figures. And maybe sometimes she got just a little flustered at the sight of them in their bras and panties; she was a teenager after all. But nothing compared to the feelings she was feeling now. She may have only seen Santana for the first time earlier that day, but there was definitely something about that girl. And now that she was stood just a few yards across from her - the only barrier between them being two windows - Brittany knew that she was attracted to the girl. Was this her first ever crush?

Heat overwhelmed the skin of her cheeks and her eyes somewhat lost focus. _Real_ reality had vanished, and Brittany was left with a perplexed, disbelievable reality; was she really staring across the street at the new girl undressing herself?

As Brittany's criminal eyes mindlessly wandered about the girl's body, the beating in her own chest seemed to augment; her cheeks felt so warm that they had began to feel chilling; she could almost hear the excitement in her stomach. Santana's slim legs looked so incredibly smooth that they seemed to be reflecting the light from the room. The girl's abs were defined - Brittany noticed - even from a distance. Despite being moderately turned on by the figure before her, Brittany couldn't help but smile fondly at the girl's choice of blue and white Miffy panties and matching bra...Who would've guessed?

Brittany was in a world of her own, but that didn't stop her from noticing that Santana had been motionless for a while now, maybe a little too long. If the girl was getting changed, why was she facing out of her window and not _actually_ changing? Dread hit Brittany; she instantly thought the worst - which actually turned out to be spot on.

As they had before in class, Brittany's eyes met those unpredictable eyes once more, only this time she was less worried about whether Santana wanted to offer a friendly greeting or not, and more so about the fact that she had been caught gawking at the girl in her underwear on the same day she had seen her for the first time. If there was ever more fitting application of the word _busted_, this was it.

Brittany held her stare, completely unaware as to why her brain had decided to do so. But Santana didn't look away either. Nor did she haste to cover herself up and obscure Brittany's view of her semi-naked self. Those deep mysterious eyes gazed fixedly into Brittany's without so much as a flicker. With thoughts scattered all over her brain, Brittany had so many questions that she wanted answers to. _Why was Santana staring back at her? Why was she herself staring in the first place? Was this some sort of plan? Did Santana secretly want Brittany to see her in her Miffy underpants? How long had she been gaping at the girl's body; how long had Santana been aware? Why were those eyes so enticing but so toxic at the same time?_

"Meow."

Brittany's eyes cast to the direction of her bed - suddenly breaking the intense, aloof eye contact she had been maintaining at such length with the girl across the street - to where Lord Tubbington lay on his back squinting at her. His expectant look caused her to snap back into _real_ reality and finally move her stiff muscles, after bring inanimate for who knows how long.

She turned back to the window. Across the street, where there had once been strong brown eyes, was now a pair of shadowy curtains, and nothing more in sight.

* * *

The familiar riff of _Hysteria_ by Muse sounded from Brittany's phone, waking the girl abruptly. She silenced the music. Normally, she would let out a sigh, roll over in her sheets and internally moan about having to get up for school; not today. Curious thoughts of the events of the previous night flooded her brain, and she sat up in bed, staring forward for a moment or so.

Brittany pulled herself out of bed and flattened out the sheets. Scooping up her glasses, she walked around her bedroom stretching up her arms; a cold breeze tickled her belly button as her pyjama shirt rode up a little at the bottom. A yawn escaped her throat. She reached over to open her curtains and made to turn around, when something caught her eye.

Normally, Brittany might just look out onto the street for a few moments before continuing to her closet to pick out an outfit, but seeing as she had since found a new view to look at across from her window, Brittany was content on spending a little longer taking in the morning view. The view into Santana's bedroom was limited, but she was still able to see a vast area of the space. The new girl was visible from where Brittany was standing herself; she watched the girl, who was already dressed and had her hair styled in the same way as the day before - long and straight with occasional wavy strands in between the layers, flowing down her back, over her shoulders and hanging slightly over her right eye.

Brittany knew better now than to stand in plain sight and risk getting caught watching the girl again; she slowly crouched under her window sill and peeped over the top. From what she could tell, Santana seemed as though she were about to leave the house. Her hair was all made up, her clothes were all on - _this time_ - and she was carrying her bag in one hand and her jacket in the other. But just as Brittany expected her to leave her room, she turned around and glanced out of the window; Brittany panicked, suspecting the girl might have seen her. If she had, she didn't show it.

Santana's dark eyes trailed the street below - much as Brittany's did everyday - as if she were taking in the cold morning view. A knock at Brittany's door caused her to flinch involuntarily backwards.

The knock was loud and crass, and Brittany knew exactly who the knock belonged to. "Mum says get out of bed!" called the voice of Brittany's sister through the door.

Rolling her eyes heavily, Brittany called back, "I'm already out!"

"We all know that already!" laughed Jamie.

Brittany - not amused by her sister's joke, as usual - waited for her footsteps to fade away down the stairs before looking back out of the window. But, once again, Santana had vanished out of sight in her room.

* * *

"Brittany! Britt!" Sam's greeting reverberated through the corridor, earning him several vicious glares and even a shove in the ribs from a jock in senior year as he scrambled in the direction of her locker. "Hey, Britt!" he smiled.

"Hi, Sam," Brittany smiled back. Glancing across at the brief audience they had, Brittany pushed her glasses up her nose and lowered her head bashfully until their sniggering died down, and then turned back to Sam.

Her eyes dropped to an old, battered shoe box in his hands. "What's that?"

Grinning lopsidedly, Sam held out his box and pulled off the lid. Brittany looked inside. Four sculptured figures lay at the bottom of the shoebox, padded with bubble wrap to prevent them from breaking. Brittany recognised them. Sam picked up one of the figures and held it in front of Brittany's face.

"Look, its Wolfgang," he beamed. The figure was carefully detailed; painted blue fur with gold patterns, dark frowning eyes and realistic acrimonious teeth. "From Shoebox Zoo," Sam expanded, although he knew Brittany was fully aware of that, since it was one of their favourite shows.

Brittany looked down into the box once more that contained the three other creatures: Ailsa the snake, Bruno the bear, and Eddie the eagle, each delicately made. Brittany studied the figures carefully.

"Where did you get those?" she asked curiously.

"In the figure shop down the street, it was just sitting there," Sam shrugged. "Cool right?"

Brittany nodded and smiled genuinely.

The two of them promptly made their way to first period; Sam to Geography, Brittany to History. As she entered the classroom and took her seat - waiting for the teacher to arrive - she watched all of her classmates take their seats in front of her.

"Good morning," greeted the teacher as she walked into the classroom. "Everybody settle down."

Brittany sat alone at the back of the classroom in History, and - to be honest - every other class without Sam. She had soon come to realise that, not only did nobody want to be her friend, but they also weren't prepared to sit beside her if they had any say in the matter, which they often did. It didn't bother her, though. The way she saw it, it gave her plentiful opportunity to drown out the teacher's voice and instead doodle in her exercise book without being grassed up; of course, grassing people up was only unheard of at McKinley High when it didn't include the _nerds_.

The teacher began speaking to the class, "I hope everyone has completed their assignments that were due in... Miss Lopez, how nice of you to join us."

Brittany's eyes darted up from her exercise book and bolted across the classroom. As her teacher had stated, there was _Miss Lopez_ stood in the doorway, looking around the room from underneath her fringe.

"Why don't you take a seat beside Brittany."

And there were those eyes again. Those simply complex eyes that seem so honest but so secretive at the same time. How did they manage to draw Brittany in so easily?

Santana quickly broke the eye contact, and Brittany looked away, searching around the classroom for another empty seat and wondering why her teacher had chosen the particular spot right beside her; because every other seat was occupied.

An expressionless Santana Lopez took her seat beside Brittany and took out her books, without so much as a glance at the blonde girl. Meanwhile, Brittany was frozen in place. She didn't know whether to pretend like the new girl wasn't there, or whether to say _hi_; regardless, her brain unconsciously decided for her; always a bad move.

She secured her glasses, pulled in her chair uncomfortably and glanced across subtly, her eyes initially landing on Santana's thighs. They immediately diverted, and instead looked up to Santana's face. The girl showed no emotion, which made Brittany even more conflicted as to what to do in this unmistakably awkward moment – well, awkward for her anyway.

Slowly, she looked forward and scratched at her temple uneasily. This whole situation may have been a lot easier for Brittany to handle – maybe – if she hadn't seen the girl in her underwear the night before. It was very distracting.

Throughout the entire class, Brittany didn't dare a single glance towards the girl and, for once, listened to the teacher the whole time. As the school bell sounded, she was the first out of the class, without looking back, to find Sam. Contemplating on whether or not to tell her best friend about the night before, or about her new History _buddy_, she decided otherwise. It's not like it was a big deal, right?

* * *

Brittany and Sam walked together to the lunch hall, initially making light conversation about Sam's latest discovery of turtles' abilities to do basic Math.

"I'm serious. They can do addition and subtraction, but not negative numbers. Apparently they're too difficult," Sam said.

"Sounds like you," Brittany joked.

"And apparently, turtles have favourite colours."

Brittany furrowed her brow at her blond best friend and smirked. "Why are you obsessing over turtles?" she asked, amused.

Sam shrugged. "Turtles are awesome."

Brittany giggled. "You really need to get out more," she teased.

It was only a few moments later that the two of them were stood in utter shock surrounded by snickering from passersby in the corridor; Sam stared at Brittany as the girl stood frozen to the spot – arms outstretched, eyes scrunched up, bright blue liquid sliming from the tip of her nose.

For a second, Brittany did nothing.

Scraping the burning slush from her glasses, eyes and face, her friend came into view with a look of complete astonishment on his face. The two of the turned to see the perpetrator. Walking away from them both, back turned to them but glancing backwards, empty slushy cup in hand, was the new girl.

Santana Lopez.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you to everyone that has been reading my story. Hugs to you all! I'm really busy with my exams at the moment so this is a slightly shorter chapter, but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless! **

Sam stood plastered to the spot, gaping after the girl with the slushie cup; he looked even more astounded that Brittany did with gelid blue slush hanging off of her hair and clothes. Glancing back at the two of them - her eyes giving away nothing - Santana threw away the cup, pulled on the straps of her bag and disappeared around the corner.

Sam turned to Brittany. "Are you okay?" he asked, stepping forward to help his friend.

Brittany nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine," she lied. "Um, thanks..." she said as Sam scraped the majority of the liquid off of her shoulders. The slush plopped to the floor, leaving a blue moat surrounding Brittany's feet.

"Come on," Sam said, wrapping an arm around Brittany's shoulder, guiding her away from the corridor filled with amused students subtlety pointing and giggling, and lead her into the toilets.

Sam assisted Brittany in removing the contents of the frozen dessert from her now matted hair. The girl's glasses were smeared so she took them off - seeing as it made no difference to her sight - and began to wipe them clean.

"What was that all about?" Sam finally asked after several minutes of avoiding speaking of the situation that had just occurred. "I mean, it's her second day at McKinley, she's barely even looked at you and she throws a slushie in your face for no reason."

Lying was one thing; avoiding the truth was a completely different thing. Logically, if Brittany happened to skip the part about seeing the new girl in her "_sweet little bunny_" panties the preceding night, it wouldn't be a lie, it would just be swerving the truth, so as not to - one - embarrass herself in front of her best friend, and - two - provoke confusion, suspicion and questioning from the blond boy.

Brittany shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe she just needed someone to pick on, and I was there," Brittany said, hoping her friend would leave it there.

Sam furrowed his brow. "I don't know," he said in his suspicious voice - obviously Brittany's avoiding-the-truth hadn't gone quite to plan. "It looked pretty targeted to me."

"Targeted?" Brittany questioned quickly. "No. It really didn't. I mean...why would she have targeted me when she barely knows me?"

With a shrug of the shoulders, Sam helped wipe the stickiness from Brittany's cheeks and considered, "Yeah, I guess," he said slowly. "Whatever her reasoning was, she must have been pretty pissed about something. This flavour is the worst to get off."

"Try having it dripping into the back of your pants," Brittany joked.

Sam smiled back at her. "I think I'm gonna leave that for you to clean up."

"Thanks, Sam."

* * *

"Everybody needs to pair up."

Since the slushie incident that occurred at lunch break, Brittany's thoughts were uncontrollably on the go. She found herself in the middle of her lesson, staring at the back of Santana Lopez's head and wondering what was going through the girl's mind every time they crossed paths with each other.

Was Santana trying to send her a message? What message? Was she mad at Brittany for witnessing her in her most private moment? Or embarrassed? Maybe during her conversation with Sam she had been right in that Santana just needed somebody to pick on, and Brittany was just there at the wrong time.

Brittany hated pairing up in her lessons, mainly due to the horror of being rejected by everyone in the class who would all rather pair up with their friends. It was times like these that she wished Sam were sat beside her, even if she had to endure his wittering tediously in her fatigued ear about Matt Bomer with his shirt off. Personally, Brittany just wasn't that into that, which was just one of their fair few disagreements. While Sam preferred Daniel Radcliffe in the later movies of Harry Potter, Brittany had always found herself somewhat drawn to Emma Watson; the countless times Sam had revealed his secret crush on Leonardo DiCaprio, Brittany was too busy admiring Claire Danes; and Brittany just didn't understand how Sam didn't find Jenna Louise Coleman as hot as she did.

A familiar sense of scrutinizing the classroom for a friend, and then coming to the conclusion that she was in her own anticipated Brittany's thoughts, until the teacher expanded on her previous instruction.

"...which I will be choosing for you," said the teacher.

A chorus of objections encompassed Brittany, who seemed to be the only one relieved. As the teacher began pairing up her classmates, Brittany probed all of her potential _buddies_. She knew the kids in her class relatively well - well enough to know their personal traits and behaviours. Brittany had not long ago given them all nicknames, since it was more interesting than referring to them by their forenames. First of all there was "Mohawk" - who was basically the class clown. He liked to consider himself a badass, but he wasn't so tough underneath the letterman jacket; he was one of the only jocks that didn't consistently mock Brittany or Sam for being the school nerds. And there was his on-off girlfriend the "Pretty Blonde Cheerleader", whom he knocked up at the beginning of the year. Brittany had to admit, she was pretty and occasionally a sweet person, but most of the time, the girl was insane. Then there was the "Nimble Dance Ninja" - with a shy personality, but killer awesome dance moves; "Finnosaurus" - the tallest kid in the school; "Prima Donna" - who once sent a transfer student to a crack house for fear of having to share her spotlight in the Glee Club; "Porcelain" - who was probably the most fabulous person Brittany had ever met; and the "New Girl".

Brittany was too consumed in her own thoughts to realise the teacher was trying to get her attention. She abruptly focused just in time to hear herself being paired up; she didn't know why she was so surprised at who the teacher chose for her.

"Brittany, you can pair up with Santana..."

She froze.

"...and finally Kurt and Mike, please pair up."

And she stayed frozen.

"Everybody sit with their partner," announced the teacher.

The sudden movement of the class in front of her brought her back to her senses; she watched as everybody paired up with their chosen partners. And just as they had in History, Santana's eyes locked onto Brittany's - only this time it felt different. Santana's once mysterious, confusing eyes appeared cold. The expression upon her face was not a pleased one; she looked angry - irritated even.

The eye contact was brief, but it was soon replaced by the presence of the girl beside her. Santana seated herself at an angle - much to Brittany's frustrated pleasure - which, combined with the low-cropped shirt she was wearing, gave Brittany a pretty good view of her cleavage. She - reluctantly - diverted her eyes.

Then something occurred to her that she hadn't realised before; she had never once heard Santana Lopez speak. And now, since they were paired up for class, she would. There was something about the thought of finding out what the new girl sounds like that excited Brittany and gave her rapid butterflies in her stomach. It was like a milestone in a way.

Brittany tried to play it cool beside Santana; she pulled in her chair and leaned an elbow on the desk casually, but it still didn't make her feel any cooler around the girl. Since Santana had slushied her in the corridor, Brittany even more so didn't know quite how to act in front of her. Luckily the teacher soon broke the awkwardness and continued with her task.

"So, class, these are going to be your project partners."

Or maybe not.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Thank you for all the new reviews; it really means a lot to me. I'm sorry for the super long wait, school has been really demanding recently. But here's the next chapter and I hope you enjoy it! I've thrown in a little Sam/Mike flirting since Shumstreet is my brOTP, so enjoy...**_

So Santana and Brittany were going to be project partners? Meaning Brittany would be spending the next week with the new girl, whom she had developed a crush on in less than a day, and who had been giving Brittany ambivalent eye-messages ever since their eyes met in History.

As Brittany's teacher explained the task, the situation just got a whole lot worse, but a whole lot more exciting at the same time. She had set the class afterschool projects to prepare a presentation on the topic of their choice.

"Class, you have a week to complete your projects and I expect to see all of you prepared to present next week."

The bell rang and the class was dismissed. Brittany awkwardly packed up her possessions and slung her bag over her shoulders, sideways-glancing several times at Santana beside her. The girl still hadn't said a word to her. Was Brittany supposed to make the first move?

Before Brittany got the chance, Santana walked out of the classroom. With a shrug of her shoulders, Brittany waited a few moments before leaving the classroom herself.

On her walk home, Brittany's mind - once again - was revolving around Santana. How could this girl who confused her, slushied her, and made her feel like a tiny sheepish nobody whenever she was around her occupy her thoughts so much of the time? She had no answers. And if she didn't have a clue, then who knew?

Brittany reached her street and carried on down the road to her house, head lowered and eyes unconsciously focused on the ground beneath her feet. The street was quiet, as it always was at this time of day, with only the occasional passer-by neighbour; usually Granny Abrams would waddle passed Brittany with a friendly hello and sweet old-lady smile. But not today. Today the street seemed evacuated of any life, but it wasn't anomalous to Brittany's usual afterschool routine.

She walked up to the front door of her house, tossing around her bag and fumbling for her front door key.

"So when are we gonna get started?"

Unexpectant of anybody behind her, Brittany flinched and her keys clattered onto the cement. The voice was not a voice she recognised, and therefore furrowed her surprised brow. Looking down at her messy scattered keys lying at the toe of her shoe, she noticed a second shadow beside her own.

She turned around.

The presence behind her was not one Brittany was expecting to see standing a few feet away from her house, even if she did live across the street from it. There were those eyes in all their mystery, and there was the new girl with one hand on her hip and the other secured around the strap of her bag.

Brittany pushed her glasses up her nose and looked down sheepishly. "Uh-m..." she stuttered. "I'm sorry?" She bravely made direct eye contact with the girl in front of her, but still kept her head slightly lowered.

Santana took a step forward, which didn't go unnoticed by Brittany.

"Our project?"

Brittany subtly swallowed nervously. "P-project. Yes, um..."

"When do you want to start?"

"Um..."

"Don't you have any other words in that nerdy brain of yours other than 'um'? I thought nerds were supposed to be smart."

Brittany had to bite her tongue to stop herself from repeating that very word. She felt embarrassed, but she couldn't help the tingle at the pit of her stomach at hearing Santana's voice for the first time, even if the girl had just insulted her.

"I-I don't mind," she answered shyly.

Santana shrugged. "Tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow," Brittany repeated. "Y-yeah. Yeah, sure."

But before Brittany had a chance to ask about details - what time, what place, in what universe Santana was agreeing to spend time with Brittany after school hours - the girl pivoted and crossed the street towards her own house, without so much as a look in Brittany's direction. She unlocked her front door, stepped inside and disappeared out of Brittany's sight.

Standing motionless for a moment as she regained her sense of reality, Brittany snapped into life and spun around, bending down briefly to scoop up her keys.

This was really happening. Brittany was doing a project with Santana Lopez.

* * *

The next day at school, Brittany was tired. She was tired because she hadn't gotten much sleep the night before. She hadn't gotten much sleep before because her brain was too awake to allow her body to sleep. And why had her brain been so active?

Santana Lopez.

Brittany couldn't get this girl off of her mind. Every thought she thought was somehow connected to her, whether it be directly or through specific, sometimes questionable, but always the same in conclusion, links. If Brittany thought about video chatting with Sam, it eventually led her to thinking about Santana; if she thought about homework, she inevitably would switch to thinking about Santana. She even, for some strange, unknown reason, ended up thinking about the new girl when deciding on a prior-bedtime rewatch of a DVD from her collection the night before. Peculiarly, _Strawberry Panic!_ reminded Brittany of the girl across the street.

Brittany slumped into her seat and dumped her bag by her feet lazily, struggling to keep her eyes open. Her brain wasn't functioning properly for Math this morning; she could barely remember the numbers of her locker combination.

Her eyelids were so heavy that she almost didn't notice a certain brunette take a seat two rows in front of her. Santana's presence woke Brittany up like a double espresso with extra caffeine, and she abruptly bolted up in her chair, eyes wide. She watched Santana settle down in her seat, her brain automatically jumping back to the previous day.

Santana had actually spoken to her; Brittany had heard, for the first time, what this intriguing girl sounded like, and it was better than she had imagined. The raspiness of her voice sent shivers through Brittany's body whenever she thought about it. It was almost seducing, even if Santana had insulted her the first and only time they had spoken.

Throughout first period, Brittany couldn't keep her eyes off of Santana. Every tiny move she made, Brittany noticed.

The time dragged by, but soon enough the lesson was over and everybody was dismissed. Santana was one of the last people to leave the class, of course meaning Brittany was too. The blonde hung around, pretending to be packing up her things until Santana made to leave, and Brittany followed her out.

With her hands in her pockets, Santana walked down the corridor, which was relatively empty. Brittany subtly followed her; she wanted to ask her about their project, but she doubted that her shyness would be allowing that to happen anytime soon. Still, that didn't stop her from stalking the girl all the way to her locker.

Brittany hovered behind her and watched as Santana reached her locker. After rummaging around, Santana pushed it shut indiscreetly and walked back in the direction she had come from. Brittany quickly diverted her eyes and whipped out her cell phone, attempting to look busy as Santana passed her. Only Santana didn't pass her.

Before she had time to react, Brittany was slammed backwards into the lockers by a pair of reckless hands. Her phone dropped to the floor with a resounding crash. The sudden noise was followed by an echo of gasps around the corridor from students who had obviously witnessed the drama.

Brittany was shaken up. When she finally got the chance to acknowledge the owner of the fierce hands pressing firmly into her shoulder blades, Brittany found the dark mocha eyes of Santana Lopez menacingly penetrating her own.

"Why are you following me?" asked Santana viciously.

Brittany slowly shook her head and opened her mouth, but she was speechless.

"What's the matter? Pussy got your tongue?"

Swallowing hard, Brittany stood pinned to the wall, staring silently at the threatening look in Santana's eyes. As Santana spoke, she shoved her hands that were fisted around the material of the blonde's shirt into her shoulders to influence her point, creating loud painful clashes against the lockers. "Stop. Following. Me, like some crazy excessive stalker-girl!" Brittany silently winced everytime the backs of her shoulder blades crudely slammed against the cold solid metal behind her, until Santana finally stopped shoving her and instead held her pinned at arm's length. "Got it, Lady-Lover?"

Brittany nodded timidly, and Santana released her. With one final hard stare, she walked away without a second glance, leaving Brittany backed up against the lockers with almost all eyes on her.

As she turned her head to the side, she saw the varied reactions from all of the other students in the corridor; some were highly amused at the sight of one half of the 'nerd squad' getting pummelled into embarrassment in front of the groups of juniors and seniors lurking by the lockers; others were silently sympathetic, but all too worried about their own reputations to offer any help. But then there was someone else, someone kinder than all of the other students.

Brittany had hoped Sam would come along to pull her out of her embarrassment, but no such luck. Instead, she was offered a friendly hand by a different familiar face.

"Brittany, isn't it?"

She looked up and was greeted with a comforting smile on the face of Mike Chang.

"I've seen you around school a lot. And in a few classes," said Mike.

Brittany straightened herself up a little, standing up from the lockers. She looked at Mike cautiously. From what she already knew of Mike, he was a nice guy. But who was to say he wasn't just playing nice just to further humiliate her?

"Are you okay?" he asked, lowering his head in attempt to mirror Brittany's face.

Brittany hesitated, but then nodded. She allowed a slight smile to creep upon her lips. Mike slowly held his hand out, checking Brittany's reaction, and gently placed it on her shoulder.

"I'm Mike."

Brittany allowed herself to breathe at last, and nodded a second time.

"Mike Chang," she expanded, becoming a little more at ease in his company. "I know."

Mike smiled. "Don't worry about the new girl. I doubt she meant to pick on you like that in front of everyone. I'll bet she's not too used to making friends."

Brittany nodded appreciatively. "Yeah. Um, thanks... This means a lot, you know. Your help. But, y-you don't have to."

"Well, why wouldn't I help?" he asked cheerfully, but puzzled at the same time.

"You know why. Everyone does," Brittany replied, as if it were obvious. Mike shook his head. "I'm the school joke. Nobody wants to be seen with me." Her eyes scanned around to the other kids; some were still subtly laughing - and some not so subtle - and some were giving looks that were unknowingly backing up what Brittany was saying.

Mike following her gaze, but turned straight back to face her. He shrugged. "I don't care what they think."

Brittany genuinely smiled.

"Are you sure you're okay? She did shove you kind of hard," Mike said, indicating towards Brittany's shoulders, where previously Santana's hands had been digging into them. Brittany rolled her shoulders and pressed gently into them. They hurt a little, and she suspected that she may experience a little bruising.

"I'm fine ... thanks," she said.

Mike nodded and smiled. Then his gaze seemed to skim straight passed Brittany to something behind her. She inevitably thought the worst; maybe Santana had overheard their conversation, or maybe some of the Jocks and Cheerios in senior year wanted to further Brittany's humiliation. But as soon as she heard the voice of the person who had caught Mike's attention, her stomach untensed and her quietly let out a sigh of relief.

"Hey, Britt," said Sam, as he appeared by her side. He looked from Brittany to Mike, and Brittany swore his eyes darkened a little. "Oh, hello."

Mike smiled. "Hi," he replied, sounding a little different to when he was encouraging Brittany; shyer, maybe?

"Um, I'm Sam." Mike nodded.

"I, um, I know who you are," he said. "I'm-"

"Mike Chang," they said in sync, and then giggled in sync like a couple of little girls. Brittany looked between the two of them, suppressing an amused smile she had hidden behind her expression.

After Sam and Mike had finished staring and giggling at each other, Sam looked between Brittany and Mike and asked, "So what's going on here?"

Before Brittany could stop him, Mike explained to Sam what had happened between her and Santana, with every single horrifying detail. Luckily enough for her, Sam wasn't the tough-guy type and wasn't about to go and learn her a lesson.

"Are you okay, Britt?" Sam asked, a concerned look suddenly forming on his face.

"I'm fine, it was nothing," she insisted. "Promise." Her friend understood her reluctance to continue the conversation and accepted her answer.

After a few more moments of Sam and Mike not-so-secretly eyeing each other, the three of them headed off to their next lesson together. Brittany was just hoping that she didn't have any lessons with Santana today.

* * *

Brittany walked home that day as usual and let herself into her empty house. Her parents were at work and she suspected that her sister was off with her boyfriend. So she had the house to herself again.

She dumped her bag in its usual spot and walked through to the kitchen. But then there was a knock at the door.

Humming quietly to herself, she made her way back through to the front door, rolling her eyes. She guessed it was Jamie - that is, if she had finally detached herself from her loser-boyfriend for long enough. She reached the front door and, without bothering to take a look through the blurred glass at the top of the door, pulled it open.

"Ready for this crappy project?"


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter update! I hope you enjoy this new one, and thank you so much for reading and commenting on the previous one. It's a little weird, so I hope you like weird! Enjoy...**

"Ready for this crappy project?"

Santana Lopez stood by the doorway to Brittany's house, her hand characteristically on her hip and a HBIC look across her face. She had brought her school bag, Brittany noticed, indicating that Santana had walked straight to Brittany's house from school.

Brittany had to admit to her reluctance to believe that she was purely here to start their project, and not for round two of their not-so-little one-sided cat fight. Baring in mind, they hadn't really left on good terms the last time they saw each other.

She felt herself involuntarily flinch. Instantly and secretly cursing herself internally, she hoped that Santana hadn't noticed. Despite her slight - but valid - fear of the girl in front of her, she couldn't help her growing attraction to her. Santana was awful and mean and threatening - for some unknown reason - but her badass behaviour only seemed to draw Brittany in even more. It was oddly enticing; strangely compelling; extraordinarily alluring.

"Are you just gonna stand there or are you going to let me in?" asked Santana obnoxiously.

Brittany stepped to the side without a word to allowing Santana to step inside. Closing the door behind Santana, Brittany followed her through to the kitchen, seeing as the brunette had already taken to making herself at home. She watched Santana circle the kitchen table as she revered the room, including the horrifying baby pictures magnets of Brittany on the fridge.

Brittany felt awkward in her own house, as if it were really her who was the stranger instead of Santana. After all of the drama from the morning, she had forgotten that they had agreed on today to start their project, so Santana's appearance at her front door was certainly not at all anticipated.

Santana stood around the opposite side of the table to Brittany, who was herself stood by the doorway, looking like a lost lamb. Their gazes connected, and for a brief moment, Brittany thought she saw some expression in Santana's dark mysterious eyes; there was something about them that she didn't recognise. But she couldn't quite pinpoint what it was.

Brittany looked away first and boldly took a step forward, just about the only action her nervous body would allow.

"Um..." she began, instantly wincing at her unconscious choice of word to begin her sentence with. She didn't know what to say to this girl. "Do you want a drink or ... anything?" she asked Santana, feeling her cheeks warming slightly.

Santana kept her gaze fixed on Brittany's face and planted her hand on her hip. "Yeah, thanks," she answered.

The word took Brittany by surprise; it was the first considerably kind thing that Santana had said to Brittany. She initially just stood motionless in the doorway staring into nothing whilst Santana looked on with a puzzled look on her face.

Brittany soon snapped back into reality and acknowledged the look upon Santana's face. "S-sorry," she stuttered. "I'll make drinks. You can take a seat if you want." She pointed towards the living room.

"Cool," Santana replied simply, rounding the table and passing by Brittany out of the kitchen. As a cool rush of perfumed air followed behind her, Brittany closed her eyes and quietly breathed in the scent of Santana. She knew it was creepy.

Abruptly composing herself, she crossed the kitchen and began making Santana and herself a drink. Brittany carried two glasses of her father's homemade lemonade though to the living room. As she entered the room, expecting to see Santana sitting on the couch, she was met with an empty room. She set down the drink and spun a full circle in search of the girl. But seemed to have disappeared.

Brittany searched the downstairs of her house for Santana, but with no such luck. Standing at the bottom of the stairs, she hesitated before calling her name quietly and waiting for a reply. Even with no audience, Brittany felt her cheeks redden.

After a moment, and no reply from Santana, Brittany slowly crept up the stairs to further her search. Pushing open the door to her bedroom, she found the brunette girl stood facing out of Brittany's bare window. She couldn't quite see what the girl was looking at from her position, but she could make a pretty sturdy guess.

Brittany opened her mouth to speak, but Santana beat her to it.

"It's a good view," she said without turning around.

Brittany instinctively nodded in agreement, but then remembered Santana was facing away from her. Her mind abruptly thought back to a few nights ago when she had seen Santana through the window. Is that what she was referring to?

"Um...," Brittany said cautiously. "Yeah."

Santana suddenly turned around and, for the first time, smiled at Brittany. Only briefly, very vaguely; but definitely a smile.

"So, um," began Brittany, lightly pawing at her own temple nervously. "What do you want to do the project on?"

Santana shrugged her shoulders. "You choose," she decided, but quickly changed her mind. "Actually, on second thoughts, I'd rather not have to stand up in front of the whole class and talk about some nerdy sci-fi crap."

Brittany lowered her head, feeling embarrassed. She wanted to object, but she knew it was probably true. And plus, she felt far too sheepish - especially in front of Santana - to say anything about it.

Santana ambulated Brittany's bedroom, curiously poking various objects with her index finger. That was when it sank into Brittany's head that Santana Lopez was in her room; Santana Lopez was walking casually around her bedroom and looking at all of her geeky possessions as if it were nothing. Brittany subtly eyed Santana. She watched as the girl examined a plastic Ariel figure, then small turquoise triceratops she had taken off of the end of a pencil, then a mini bow and arrow set that lay beside them. Santana's eyes trailed along the posters on the bedroom walls: Angry Birds; Dashboard Confessional; Harry Potter; several Doctor Who ones; and a smaller border poster of a baby-pink unicorn in a magical forest.

Where Brittany's hand lay at the side of her thigh, she pinched at the flesh. She could feel the pain and winced. She wasn't dreaming.

Finally, Santana turned back to Brittany and just looked at her for a moment. Brittany held Santana's gaze, staring straight back into those mysterious pupils. But then she looked down and broke their eye contact. Would Santana ever be the one to look away first?

"Wow," Santana finally said, taking another look around the room. "You really have some pointless junk in here, don't you?"

"It's not junk!" Brittany replied defensively, before given the chance to prevent herself. "I-I mean, they all mean a lot to me."

"Let me guess, Sam made you this...whatever the Hell this is," Santana said, gently prodding a homemade figure of a Weeping Angel made from cardboard.

Brittany hesitated, then nodded. "It was a, um, birthday present." Sam had worked really hard on making Brittany a homemade birthday present for her sixteenth, and Santana had appraised it in a matter of seconds. Although she would never show it, Brittany knew she should be mad at the girl for this, and when Santana had slushied her, yelled at and embarrassed her in front of the older kids, and for every single insult Santana had thrown her way. So why wasn't she?

Santana soon changed back to the original subject of the project, although not in the sense that Brittany had hoped. "I don't see why we have to do this freaking home project anyway. This is just a waste of my time," she groaned.

Boldly, Brittany replied to her, "Well, we have to do it, so we might as well just get on with it."

Santana looked at her and slightly cocked her head. Brittany supposed the girl wasn't quite expecting that response from her; the quiet blonde nerd who never ever spoke her opinion to anybody. But this time did, and it made her feel good. Until she noticed the look upon Santana's face and was scared the girl would smash her against the wall again.

"So, um, I...I guess we should choose a topic, or something. For the project," Brittany stuttered, not quite as confidently as before.

Santana sighed. "Whatever," she grumbled. "Just choose the first thing that comes into your head that isn't remotely related to..." She waved her hand around the room. "...this."

Brittany thought, and the first thing that came into her head was, "Ships."

Santana frowned. "Ships?" she questioned. "As in big boats?"

Brittany blushed. "Sorry. Um, I meant relationships," she corrected. But instantly regretted it. Out of all of the subjects she could have chosen, she chose to make the project she was doing with Santana Lopez about relationships?

But Santana didn't seem as bothered by the subject as Brittany did, and was more so about the previous word she had used. "What in the Hell is a 'ship'?"

Brittany blushed even more. "It's short for, um, relationship," she explained. "On Tumblr. We say 'ship' instead of...yeah."

"Right. Whatever." Santana rolled her eyes. "Why relationships?" she questioned.

Brittany shrugged honestly. "It was the first thing that came to my head."

"Right."

After a moment or two of silence, Brittany spoke up again. "I, um, made drinks. They're downstairs." With a nod from Santana, Brittany led the way back downstairs and into the living room, clandestinely catching Santana's gaze behind her as she turned corners. She wasn't totally sure, but one time she could have sworn she saw the girl checking out her lower half. Of course not, she told herself. As they reached the living room, they were met with a little more than two glasses of lemonade.

"Jamie, what are you doing here?" questioned Brittany. "I thought you were staying at Darren's."

Jamie turned to face her sister. "I forgot my phone." She held it up as proof, but then something else seemed to catch her eye. "Who's your friend?"

Brittany glanced at Santana, then back to her sister. "Um, this is Santana."

"She your new girlfriend then?" Jamie smirked sarcastically. Brittany opened her mouth to abruptly decline, but Santana beat her to it.

"Yeah. I am," she said. Brittany's eyes shot wide open in shock and disbelief. As she looked at Santana, she noticed the girl had a smirk across her face. She caught Brittany's eye and, without warning, swiftly wrapped her arm around Brittany's shoulder. "Problem?"

Brittany froze underneath Santana's touch. As she felt the pads of the girl's fingers pressing against her shoulder, she swallowed hard and looked across to her sister in bewilderment.

Jamie didn't seem to notice her sister's reaction as her phone vibrated in her hand. She checked the text she had received, glanced up at Brittany and Santana and sniggered. "Whatever." And with that she walked out. Santana stepped away from Brittany and smiled; to the blonde, it didn't look like any normal smile. It was neither gleeful nor amused nor friendly. More so evil and devious.

As Brittany regained herself, she gave Santana a look, since attempting to speak would have be near enough useless. Still, the look seemed to express everything that she couldn't vocalize.

Santana shrugged her shoulders. "What did you want me to say to her?"

Brittany shrugged on turn and stuttered, "I don't know."

"It's not like she believed me," Santana scoffed. "As if I would date you."

Brittany tried to hide the hurt and somewhat disappointment that the girl had just accorded her. But honestly, she couldn't help showing a little bit of empathy for herself. "So why did you say you were?" Brittany asked, an edge of bitterness to her voice.

Santana once again shrugged and smirked. "Funny."

With the wish of transmuting the current conversation to prevent further discomposure, Brittany picked up a glass of lemonade and handed it to Santana. "It's homemade. My dad made it," she explained.

Santana took the glass. "Thanks." She took a sip of the lemonade as Brittany picked up her own drink. "This is really good," Santana praised.

Brittany smiled and sipped at her own lemonade. Brittany just couldn't understand this girl. One moment she was insulting her like crazy and then near enough laughing at her misfortune, and then there were moments like these where Brittany though that she might actually want to befriend her. Whatever Santana's reasoning was, Brittany couldn't figure it out. Did this girl like her or hate her guts? She was unpredictable. She was just plain confusing.

"So..." Brittany began. "...um. The project?"

Santana rolled her eyes and sighed, "Is that all you ever talk about?" she complained. "Fine, we'll start this stupid project. But just one thing."

"What's that?"

"I may need more lemonade."

* * *

That night, Brittany lay in her bed gazing up at the swirly patterns on her ceiling. She found that the swirls of paint that covered the ceiling from edge to edge reminded her somewhat of Vincent Van Gogh's imagination, as he lay on the grass beside The Doctor and Amy watching the sky and the stars reel into each other to transform into a beautiful painting. Every single pattern was like an individual image, and she found that if she looked hard enough she could always manipulate her eyes into seeing any image she wanted. Very much like clouds.

Before turning out her light at night, Brittany would often allow her thoughts to wonder as she stared up at the various shapes that her imagination brought to her ceiling. But tonight, there was just one dominating thought that she had on her mind.

Santana Lopez.

Somehow, this reflected onto her ceiling and the swirly patterns of white paint morphed into the face of the girl across the street. There was no mistaking it was her; Brittany recognised her eyes immediately. Those dark eyes.

Earlier that afternoon, the two of them had finally begun their project, and had made quite good progress. Despite her badass attitude at school, Santana really seemed to care about her education. But after about an hour of solid work, she had stood up and left the house with a swift "later".

So what exactly did "later" mean? Of course she would physically see Santana "later" at school the next day, even if she wasn't going to "see" her. But what about after school? Would she turn up at Brittany's doorstep a second time to carry on with the project? Brittany was clueless. But there was one thing for sure.

The following day was going to be eventful...


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six! As always, thanks to everyone who has taken the time to read and comment on my fanfic. You are all amazing! I hope you enjoy this one...Here's a little bit of Sam being an awesome _friend_ to Brittany, just the way it should be.**

**Warning: a little language.**

Brittany wasn't so used to her life being so busy. She was only used to her daily routine of waking up in the mornings, walking to school as usual, getting through the school day with no more drama or excitement than a debate with Sam about computer games, walking home as usual, and spending the rest of her evening virtually or physically with Sam, or on Tumblr. But ever since Santana moved in across the street, all of that had changed.

The next morning as Brittany was making her way down to breakfast, her phone buzzed and Sam's name flashed across her screen. She hovered on the stairs and answered it.

"Hi, Sam," she greeted.

On the other end of the line, Sam's voice replied, "Hey." "What's up?"

"Nothing much," he answered, as he usually does. "I just have a question."

"But we're gonna see each other at school in about an hour."

"Yeah I know."

"What's your question?"

"Why weren't you answering any of my text messages yesterday? I messaged you, like, five times to ask if you were online."

Brittany twitched her mouth to the side and looked down. "Sorry, I was busy."

"Busy?"

"Yes, I can be busy." He wasn't convinced.

"Busy doing what?" he asked.

"Um..." Brittany paused and thought of an excuse. She honestly wasn't really willing to tell Sam that she had blown him off because she was too busy thinking all evening about the new girl - who had slushied her, then smashed her into a locker not long before - to remember to at least let him know she wasn't going to be online. "I was um..." What would make him both believe her and forgive her? "I was having a movie marathon."

"Fair enough," Sam said. "But why didn't you tell me?"

"Do I have to tell you everything?"

"Well, I guess not. Sorry."

Brittany sighed. "No, I'm sorry, Sam. I didn't mean it that way."

"It's cool. So I guess it was something along the lines of V for Vendetta, followed by Labrynth, then Resident Evil Extinction, and finally The Little Mermaid?" Sam said confidently.

"How did you know?"

"You're my best friend. Of course I know your movie playlist," Sam said, as though it were an obvious piece of information. Brittany felt her stomach drop. Sam was right, she was his best friend, and he was hers; so why was she keeping secrets from him. Was she behaving like a bad friend for keeping all that had happened with Santana - that Sam hadn't actually witnessed for himself - secret from him? Sam wasn't a violent boy at all; in fact he was the most tame and clement person that Brittany knew. Although, as every human being does, he had his entitled opinion. And Brittany had a feeling that he wouldn't much like the idea of Santana Lopez being in her house, or consistently on her mind for that matter.

"Yeah," Brittany mumbled. "Course."

"You don't sound so sure," Sam pointed out. "What, have you found yourself a new best friend to replace me?" he teased. Brittany chucked down the phone. Sam always knew how to make her smile.

"Yeah, of course I have."

"Oh?"

"His name is Chord and he has blond hair just like you. You know, he's a total Sam Evans 2.0 but, you know, better."

"I see. Well I doubt this Sam Evans 2.0 has a surprise waiting for you at school."

"Surprise?"

"Mm hm."

"What surprise?"

"Well, it's for my best friend, which apparently has just ditched me for a guy she made up." She could almost hear him smiling on the other end of the line.

"Okay I'm sorry," Brittany caved.

"Good."

"So, what's the surprise?"

"Sorry, can't say."

"What? No way! Come on; tell me what the surprise is!"

"Have you actually ever looked up the word 'surprise' in a dictionary?"

"Yes, and the definition reads: tell Brittany the surprise or she's going to tell everyone at school that you sport Peter Pan underwear," she threatened.

"When I was eight."

"They don't know that. And I'm pretty sure there will be lots of willing participants to find out whether I'm telling the truth." Brittany remembered the first and only time Sam had been pantsed very clearly. It made her laugh every time she thought about that senior boy exposing poor Sam's undies to the entire school in the hallway.

"Oh come on, you wouldn't honestly do that to your best friend" Sam said.

"Only if you tell me what the surprise is," Brittany negotiated.

"Can we stop saying 'surprise'?"

"Sam!"

"Like you said, we're going to see each other in an hour so you'll find out then," Sam replied.

"No, wait-" Brittany began.

"In a bit, Britt." And with that, Sam hung up the phone. Brittany growled in frustration. She hated waiting for secrets; she hated not knowing secrets, which was exactly the kind of thing Sam used against her. He knew she couldn't stand having to wait for a surprise, especially when he told her she would have to wait.

As Brittany made her way fully down the stairs, she was met with her sister standing just by the foot of the stairs, smirking up at her.

"Was that your little girlfriend?" Jamie asked teasingly.

Brittany joined her at the bottom, frowning at the girl, and asked directly, "Have you been eavesdropping?"

Jamie shrugged. "Maybe. What did she want?"

Brittany tried to step passed Jamie towards the kitchen, but her sister obstructed her path. Brittany sighed. "It was Sam," she said assertively. "And Santana isn't my girlfriend."

"Then why did she say she was?" Jamie pushed.

For once, Brittany thought, Jamie's question was actually spot on. She honestly replied to her sister, "I don't know."

Making her way passed Jamie, who finally granted her access, she entered the kitchen and greeted her father, who sat at the table eating his eggs. "Where's mom?" she asked, seating herself opposite him at the kitchen table.

"She's just popped across the street," her dad answered. "She'll be back in a moment."

Brittany stared at her father, wide-eyed. "What? Why?"

Mr Pierce furrowed his brow at his daughter. "Just to deliver a letter to Mrs Morris at number 29," he stated.

"Oh." Brittany slowly nodded her head understandingly. "Right." She subtly let out a sigh.

"Is there a problem?" asked her dad, nonplussed.

"Across the street" for Brittany meant Santana; and Santana meant unrequited lust, insults and confusion. So, of course, her father mentioning Mrs Pierce popping "across the street" was going to alert something inside Brittany. Pouring herself a bowl of Lucky Charms, she shook her head and gave her father a casual smile.

* * *

Brittany arrived at school after a cold morning walk from her comforting central-heated house. Her numb cheeks flushed as she entered the building as the warm temperature overwhelmed her skin where the cold had previously surrounded. She was met with the accustomed zombie-faced kids at McKinley High as she made her way to her locker.

Skilfully opening her combinated locker, she was met with an anomaly in her locker; a new edition to all of her school possessions. Smiling and reaching in to pick it up, she turned to the right and searched expectantly for her best friend. He was nowhere to be seen.

Brittany took out everything she didn't need from her bag and placed it in her locker. As she closed the door, disclosing her view of the left side of the corridor, Sam's beaming face and big-lipped smile appeared into vision.

Before Sam could say anything, Brittany grinned at him and spoke first, "Batwoman and Spidergirl?" Sam shrugged and grinned back. "Where did you get them?"

"Comic book store," he answered. "They just came in. Special edition."

Brittany studied the covers of the comic books before looking up to face Sam again. "Thank you," she said.

"You like them?"

"I love them." She stepped towards Sam and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "You're my best friend."

Sam hugged her back. "Oh, so I am your best friend now?" he teased.

Pulling back, Brittany looked into his eyes, suddenly showing seriousness. "You really are, Sam. You're the most awesomest friend I've ever had." Thinking for a moment, she adapted her sentence, "Well, you're the only friend I've ever had. But you're also the best."

Sam's pupils grew a little bigger and happier. He hopped forward. As he was quite a bit taller than Brittany was, his height allowed him to hover over her ever so slightly; leaning forward to peck her on the forehead, he whispered in response, "I know. I'm fabulous."

* * *

Brittany's school day was relatively uneventful compared with how her days had been mapping out recently. She hadn't seen Santana all day, and instead spent her lessons and break in peace with Sam. Although she was glad not to have been humiliated in the corridor on this particular day, she still had to admit her hope to see the brunette girl.

Well, at least, that was until lunchtime came along.

Brittany left her class to meet up with Sam. Sam's class had been at the complete opposite end of the school to Brittany's. As she began weaving in and out of other students, she began to notice staring. People didn't normally stare; when it came to Brittany, people tended to ignore her and pretend like she didn't exist in the school. It suited her just fine. Of course, when it had first become public that she was gay, she had gotten quite a few stares and side-comments, most of which had faded over time with still the occasional opinion voiced to her or behind her back. But generally people didn't care too much. So what had attracted all of this sudden unwanted attention on her?

Brittany furrowed her brow, continuing through the crowded hallway until she reached the end. Looking back, she found the group of the kids still glancing at her and then whispering to each other. But then they all abruptly diverted their eyes and carried on with their friends. They all seemed to have caught sight of something behind her.

Brittany's stomach nauseously churned at the anticipation of who was stood behind her. She ruled out Sam, because - well - people would never in a million years react this way with him. So, she figured, there was only one obvious possibility.

Before she had the chance to turn around herself, and firm hand grasped her shoulder and yanked her around. And, of course, her guess had been correct. Santana's eyes were filled with rage as they burned into Brittany's. By the fierce expression on the girl's face, Brittany was almost certain she was about to receive a black eye for whatever the Hell she had done to anger her.

Santana raised her hand again. She flinched. But Santana's hand instead landed back on her shoulder and pulled her into the nearby girls' bathroom.

Brittany was so confused. As soon as they were out of sight of everyone, Santana released Brittany, who stumbled backwards slightly. "What the Hell is wrong with you?" Santana yelled angrily.

Brittany stuttered, "Wh-what?"

Before Santana explained herself, she turned to the side as a girl exited a cubicle. The girl gave the two of them a curious look as she washed her hands. Santana raised her eyebrows at the girl and clenched her fists.

"Fuck off," she spat menacingly.

The girl swiftly departed the bathroom; as soon as the door swung shut behind her, Santana turned back to Brittany. But Brittany noticed something. The ominous look in her eyes had softened; her fists were no longer balled up and threatening imminent pain; and as she spoke, her tone was, if possible, more composed.

"Why is it spreading around the school that we're dating?" Santana asked.

Brittany had to take a moment to absorb what Santana had said. Had she heard right? People thought the two of them were dating? _For real?_

"I-I don't know," Brittany replied truthfully.

Santana shook her head. "You're lying."

"I'm not," Brittany defended herself. She could already feel her cheeks reddening.

Santana sighed. "If I find out your little maggot of a sister has told everyone that I'm your girlfriend, I swear I will crush her like a soda can," she threatened.

Brittany, once again, felt hurt by Santana's words. The extent of her threat because of some stupid made up rumour about the two of them dating was a little much, and a little harsh. The fact that Santana would rather physically impair her sister than have people think that there was something going on between herself and Brittany was itself pernicious to the blonde. She tried her best at hiding the hurt from her face and swallowed hard.

She spoke up. "You were the one who said we were dating in the first place."

"As a joke!" Santana reminded her. "It was a freaking joke."

"It's not my fault if Jamie told people something that _you_ told her," Brittany said boldly.

Santana stepped forward and the venom returned to her eyes and voice. "Well, it will be unless you sort it out, Pierce." The dark, almost blended pupils in the centre of her irides flicked from left to right as they menacingly peered into Brittany's. She held the blonde's nervous gaze for a moment more, and then turned away and passed her out of the bathroom.

Brittany released a suppressed breath and closed her eyes. She was terrified out of her mind, but at the same time she couldn't disregard the feeling of perturbing excitement that she felt at Santana's face being so close to hers. She couldn't help but feel a little turned on by the brunette's attitude towards her. But this was wrong; she shouldn't feel this way. It was just wrong.

_I'm going to throttle Jamie_, she told herself.

* * *

That afternoon during last period, the staring became more widely spread throughout the school. But what could she do about it, other than hope that it didn't spread enough for Sam to hear about it; and hope that this rumour was just like the rest of them and fizzle out in the morning.

While walking from her last class, Brittany received a text from Sam that read: '_Wait for me by science_.'

It was nothing unusual. Sam and Brittany would often arrange to meet up at the end of the school day and end up either going to the Evans household or the Pierce household. But there was only one problem about the latter; one particular brunette, brown-eyed, bad-tempered obstacle by the name of Santana Lopez.

What if she turned up for the project while Sam was around Brittany's house? How would she explain to Sam? How would she be able to live with herself knowing that she had kept it from him? She knew it was a huge secret, but it was still a secret she was keeping from her _best friend_, the guy who she never kept any secrets like this from. Of course she had her personal secrets as everyone does, but this was different. This was lying to him. And now there was a possibility that was out of her hands of him finding out she had been lying to him.

"Hey, Britt," he greeted as he joined her by the science block. As they walked together along the corridor towards the front entrance, Sam began to speak to Brittany. "So, since we haven't seen each other outside school for a few days now, how about we set up a couple of movies at your place?"

Brittany glanced sideward at him. "Can't we go to your place?" she asked hopefully.

"I would, but my folks are 'round and my grandma is staying in my room. It's a little crowded over there."

Staying silent for a moment, allowing her thoughts to wonder, Brittany stared at the ground as they walked across the car park.

"Britt?"

"Yeah, sure," she said. She smiled at Sam to, not only reassure him, but also herself.

The two of them walked to Brittany's house together. But Brittany's sustained silence did not go unnoticed by her blond friend; nor did every glance behind her that she made.

"Are you okay?" Sam asked her. He genuinely looked concerned. "You don't seem like yourself today," he observed. "Especially now."

Brittany nodded her head. "I'm fine."

"Did I do something wrong?" he asked. "You know, we don't have to have a movie night tonight."

Brittany stopped in her tracks and turned to Sam, who followed in suit. "No, you haven't," she said apologetically. "I'm sorry, Sam."

"I'm just worried about you."

"I know you are. I'm fine, honest. I'm just a little..." She paused and pondered. "...contemplative."

"About what?" asked Sam.

Brittany shrugged. "Everything. Nothing in particular."

"Well," smiled Sam. "There's nothing a good old rewatch of the Spiderman trilogy can't solve, right?" he said cheerfully.

Brittany smiled fondly and nodded, nudging his arm lightly. "Obviously."

Sam giggled. "Mm hm. That's right, girl!"

They soon reached Brittany's house and made themselves comfortable. As normal, the house was empty. Her father at work, her mother visiting granny Pierce according to the note on the fridge, and her sister assumingly off with Darren. So it was just the two of them for the afternoon.

Hopefully.

As Sam picked out the movies, Brittany prepared the popcorn. It had been a total of ten minutes and thirty seconds and there was no sign of Santana. Maybe she had seen Sam and avoided continuing the project today. Whatever the reason, the blonde wasn't complaining. Just imagining the awkwardness and shame that Santana's arrival would cause if Sam were to find out was itself too much for Brittany to deal with.

The popcorn in the microwave soon popped and Brittany carried it through the kitchen and to the bottom of the stairs. But the moment her toe touched the bottom step, there was a dreaded knock at the door.

Brittany froze.

What was she going to do? Could she ignore the door? No, of course not, she wouldn't be surprised if the brunette had seen her walk home. Could she just explain that Sam was here? She was sure that Santana would want to keep their afterschool project dates just as secret as Brittany did. Yes, that's what she would do. Nothing could go wrong.

Brittany placed the popcorn on the bottom step and slowly made her way to answer the door. As she had unwillingly suspected, Santana stood in her doorway, her hands hidden in her pockets.

Brittany stood staring blankly at her, hand tightly gripped on the side of the door. Santana's eyes stared expectantly back at her. "Are you just going to stand there everytime you open the door to me?" she asked, just as obnoxiously as the day before.

Brittany dropped her eyes for a moment, contemplating what to say. Planning on what to say was simple and easy, but actually getting around to saying it? That was the tricky part.

"Um..." Brittany stuttered. "I, um..."

"Spit it out, Blondie," Santana pushed.

Brittany opened her mouth to speak and looked Santana in the eye, but was cut off from making any sort of sound.

"Britt?" she heard from upstairs. Santana raised her eyebrows.

Brittany cleared her throat. "Sam's here," she finally said.

Santana nodded. "I can hear that," she replied. "So?"

Furrowing her brow, Brittany tilted her head to the side. "Well, I just thought...um...you know..."

"You mean you haven't told him about your new project buddy?" Santana teased in a harsh tone. "Well, I'm offended. After all, according to your sister, I am supposed to be your new girlfriend."

Brittany sighed. Why was Santana being like this? Making the situation twice as difficult as it should be. In fact, why was Santana picking on her in the first place? Brittany wanted to know what awful thing she had done to Santana to make act like she did.

"Look, I don't know..." Brittany began boldly, but soon trailed off as she noticed Santana's gaze drifting away from Brittany to something behind her.

The look on Santana's face became one of amusement and she greeted the person standing behind the blonde. "Hi, Sam."

"Brittany, what's going on?"


	7. Chapter 7

**Thank you all for your suggestions and comments! For all of you wondering why Santana is such a bitch to Brittany, don't hate on her too much. She isn't all mean. Here's a little hint: She is similar to Dave Karofsky. **

**I just want to apologize that I don't update as soon as I should but I do try to work on it whenever I get the time and ideas. Anyway, I hope you enjoy... **

"Brittany, what's going on?" Sam's voice was laced with bewilderment, but also with protectiveness over Brittany. This was the girl who had thrown a literally ice-cold slushie in his best friend's face for no apparent reason and then strutted around school like she didn't give a damn; he wasn't about to back down and allow her to cause Brittany any more harm.

So much he didn't know.

Although normally Sam would have reacted sheepish and weak around someone as intimidating as Santana, Brittany was more important right now than his self-esteem.

"What is she doing here?" he asked in a firm voice.

Brittany turned her head to Sam and felt like crying. What kind of situation had she gotten herself into? Here was her best friend by her side, doing his very best to act protective of her and stand up to Santana - the girl who treated her like crap and expected her to just forget about whatever happened at school whilst standing at her door and waiting to be invited in.

Brittany glanced back at Santana, who was still smirking at the two of them. "Do you want to tell him, or shall I, Specasaurus?"

"Don't call her that," Sam demanded. Santana sniggered to herself. He turned to Brittany. "Do you want me to ask her to leave?"

"I'm right here, you know," Santana butted in.

"Yeah, I know you are. But why?" Sam asked.

Santana shrugged casually, "We have a project to do."

"Project?"

"That is what I said. Brittany and I were assigned an afterschool project to do together. Is that a problem?" She blinked and frowned at Sam.

Stepping in front of Brittany, he answered her back. "Yes, actually. It is."

"And why's that, Froggy face?"

"Because you're a crazy, evil bitch and I don't want you being mean to my best friend!" Sam raised his voice without even thinking. He could barely believe the words had disinterred his mouth. For a moment, Santana stared him straight in the eye; emotionless, expressionless.

Then her eyes snapped away, her lips slightly parted and her brow slightly creased. Sam wasn't sure if he had hit a nerve or empowered the girl's temper further. But as he observed the look in Santana's eye as she briefly glanced up at the two of them, he was almost certain his decision was edging towards the first.

Santana spoke after moments of stillness and silence. "I have better things to do with my time than a loser project." She pivoted on the spot and turned away from the two of them, walking away without another word. Brittany and Sam watched her go until she disappeared behind her front door.

Brittany turned to her friend. "...Sam?"

Sam didn't look her in the eye and instead focused on a point in the centre of the door mat. "Are you okay?"

Brittany studied Sam's profile as he stared at the ground. "Yeah," she whispered, still slightly in shock from Sam's outburst. "Are you?"

Sam nodded, still looking to the ground. After contemplating how to word her thoughts, she cleared her throat and looked down. "Are you mad at me?"

He finally looked up at her and made eye contact. Shaking his head, he replied, "No. Of course I'm not."

Brittany smiled; reassured. "I can't believe you stood up for me like that."

Sam smiled back. He raised his arm humorously and attempted to tense his bicep. "You think it was my big, Superman, manliness that scared her away?" he joked. Brittany giggled and poked him in the arm, causing him to retract his muscle. "Ow!"

"Actually," said Brittany. "I think it was more to do with you calling her a crazy, evil bitch."

Sam smirked. "Did I really just say that to the school bully?"

"Uh huh."

"Oh God." He ruffled his own hair and scrunched up his nose. "I wouldn't be surprised if she vandalizes my locker or, like, my house, or, you know, defaces my ... face."

Brittany's head tilted sideways. "I doubt she knows where you live, Sam."

Sam rolled his eyes. "I was trying to sound all dramatic like they do in the movies," he complained. "Thanks for killing it, Britt."

"Whatever." She tapped her knuckle on his forearm. "Thank you."

Sam smiled understandingly. "Any time," he replied honestly. "Come on," he changed the subject as he pulled the front door closed and gently pushed Brittany backwards into the hallway. "I've set up the movie in your room." Still facing Sam, Brittany gave him a thumbs up.

"I made the popcorn, and it's ready to eat," she added. But Sam didn't look so sure. "What?" she asked.

"Uh, we might need to make some more popcorn," he replied. As he gestured for his friend to turn around, Brittany pivoted on the spot.

"Oh."

Sat at the bottom of the stairs where Brittany had temporarily positioned the bowl of microwaved popcorn was Lord Tubbington, wiping toffee shards from the corners of his mouth and then licking his paw. Brittany and Sam caught his attention and he looked up at them innocently. "Mew."

"You ate the entire bowl?" Brittany said, astounded. "There were two giant packets in that bowl!"

Sam raised his eyebrows and snickered. He put on a voice. "You is _one_ fat pussy-cat."

Brittany giggled and elbowed him in the ribs. "I told you," she said. "Don't call him fat. He's just poofy."

"Well, your _poofy_ cat has just eaten a whole day's worth of calories in the space of five minutes," he said. "And now I think he may be asking for his dinner."

"Actually, the packet said this popcorn is low calorie," Brittany pointed out smugly.

"You know what I mean," Sam rolled his eyes.

Lord Tubbington sat purring and squinting his eyes at the two of them as if nothing were amiss. Brittany sighed. "You know what? Sam's right, Tubbs. You really are one chubby kitty-cat."

* * *

"Night, mom! Night, dad!" Brittany called down the stairs as she made her way up to her bedroom. Her parents called a reply up to her in sync. She stopped on the steps as she heard footsteps behind her. Lord Tubbington overtook her on the stairs, slowly waddling through the gap between the wall and Brittany's calf. He stopped briefly to look up at the blonde, blink and 'mew', before waddling on to her bedroom door.

Brittany let Lord Tubbington and herself into her bedroom and closed the door behind her. As soon as she saw the state of her room, she automatically rolled her eyes and sighed over-exaggeratedly. That evening, Sam had stayed for dinner at the Pierce's, and Brittany had forgotten the mess that the two of them had left her bedroom in. DVD cases and discs scattered and dumped on the rug; empty soda cans scrunched into the corner of the room; anomalous pieces of popcorn dotted all over Brittany's bed sheets - which were soon discovered and scooped up by Lord Tubbington. Sam was such a messy friend.

Brittany picked up all of the discs from the floor and returned them to their valid cases; sloppily grouping together the empty cans, she deposited them in her bin, and then turned to Lord Tubbington. Her sheets were now clear of any loose popcorn thanks to him, and he curled up at the foot of the bed, satisfied with his work.

"Thanks, Tubbs," Brittany said.

"Mew."

She heavily but moderately carefully fell into the centre of her bed, giggling as Lord Tubbington bobbed up and down slightly at her feet. Sighing, she took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes, allowing her brain to wonder. And, inevitably, her thoughts travelled straight back to after school's events.

Although she was glad that Sam wasn't mad at her for keeping secret Santana's after school visits, she still felt relatively uneasy about the whole thing. She couldn't decline that she was attracted to Santana, and had been from the moment her eyes had met the brunette's mysterious but beautiful ones, but she also couldn't decline that the girl was a bitch. Santana acted awfully to her whenever their paths crossed, and she just didn't know why.

Brittany reached across to pull her comic books that Sam had given to her from underneath Lord Tubbington. He didn't seem to notice the disruption and carried on grooming himself. The blonde girl studied the cover of Batwoman and Spidergirl. Sam may have been the most untidy person she knew, especially when it concerned Brittany's bedroom and junk food, but she couldn't dispute he had a good knowledge of what his best friend was in to.

She spent fifteen minutes flicking through the pages of her comics until she felt her eyelids becoming rather heavily with fatigue. Lifting her enervated body from her duvet she padded over to her mirror to brush her damp, partially-matted blonde hair. She looked at her reflection in the mirror, eyes trailing down to study the tiny dotted Eeyores on her pyjamas. She smiled.

She turned around and headed across the room to draw the curtains. As she did every night, she automatically took an inevitable peek across the street into Santana's room. Usually - ever since the first night - the curtains were closed, but they weren't tonight. Just as it had been the first night, the brunette's bedroom was very much exposed; and just as she had been, so was Santana. Only this time she wasn't exposed in quite the same way. Not physically, but emotionally.

At first, Brittany found it difficult to believe her eyes. The girl across the street was quite a distance from Brittany, but she could still see her clearly. Santana was propped up sideways on her window sill, facing downwards with her hand cupped around her temple, slightly covering her eyes from view. Although she couldn't see her face, Brittany could tell by the shaking of her shoulders that she was sobbing.

Brittany furrowed her brow as she watched Santana. To her, it was almost impossible to give credence to the fact that this girl across the street with a sudden new found innocence and vulnerability had been so threatening and hurtful towards her before. She had done nothing wrong, whereas Santana had done plenty to upset her, and yet she still felt sympathy guilt for the sobbing girl. And not only that, but she also was very curious to find out what had caused such emotion to unexpectedly unearth from the girl.

Santana made a movement; not an extensive one of great significance, but it did allow for Brittany to finally catch a glimpse of her face. She noticed that Santana's cheeks and eyes were a little puffy and pink. How long exactly she had been crying like this for was unknown to Brittany; she certainly hadn't noticed her as she had entered her room half an hour before. But judging by the extent of the evidence on her face, Brittany could tell it hadn't just been an _of-the-moment_ burst of sad emotion.

Brittany didn't want to see Santana this way. Whatever the girl across the street had done to her in the past few days to make _her_ feel like crying in a similar manner to this, Brittany would not ever wish it upon Santana instead, or as revenge, or for any other reason there may be. She wasn't the type of person. She has always been such a selfless and harmless person. She was the sort of person that held doors open for swarms of ignorant people without any type of complaint, expressed nor internal; or got stung by a wasp in the process of trying to free it from her bathroom, and not at all blamed the wasp; Brittany even felt sorry for inanimate shop-window teddy bears for having to "sit around all day while everyone stares at them but never buys them". Everybody knew Brittany was not only the most sweet-hearted, ethical, selfless person, but also the humblest person in all of Lima. Sam even thought in all of the universe. He had once said _"Somewhere in a parallel universe to this one, there's a righteous version of everyone on this planet, but I'll bet even that version of you isn't nearly as nice as you are"._

This time, Brittany knew to be more careful with her leering across the street; after all, she didn't want to get caught out by Santana again. Especially not in this sort of situation. Yes, maybe being caught staring into the bedroom of a girl you barely know in her Miffy underwear was quite a consequential situation, but being caught staring into the bedroom of a girl who has proven that she obviously has something against you, and who is noticeably sobbing for some unknown reason that she probably wants to keep secret from anyone, was somehow quite that little bit worse in Brittany's logic.

In order to keep herself hidden, Brittany ducked down under her window sill, but sat at the height where she could comfortably see Santana. She knew she shouldn't be invading her privacy like this, but her want to find out why she was crying like this was getting the better of her. And she thought to herself, _if she doesn't want anyone to see her like this, why is she propped up against the window sill in plain view?_ There were probably lots of reasons, but that wasn't her greatest concern right now.

She watched Santana lift a hand to wipe her cheek, presumably wiping away a sad tear. Her view was limited even more so now that she was having to hide herself, but Brittany could just see that around the brunette girl's lips was a puffy red lining that matched her cheeks and eyes. Her lips parted as if she was sighing, and then her bottom lip disappeared behind her central incisors. Santana raised her head and looked up to her ceiling before sighing again. For a moment, her palms cupped her entire face, hiding her emotions from the world as she composed herself, and then, without warning, she stood and turned to look outside her window.

Unlike the other night, Brittany was too quick for Santana to spot her and fully ducked down out of the girl's view. Spinning around, she pressed her back to the wall and stared across her bedroom, waiting. She wondered if Santana had in fact seen her, and if she was just being subtle and pretending to have not. She shook her head, answering her own question.

After waiting several minutes to make sure the coast was clear, Brittany slowly shuffled back around, positioned both hands simultaneously on the window sill and peeked across the street. Santana was gone and her curtains were closed. Something inside Brittany was a little disconsolate that the brunette was no longer in her view, but then again she was only glad that she hadn't been caught again.

As Brittany got herself ready for bed, there was the consistent question playing on her mind...

_Why was Santana crying?_


	8. Chapter 8

**Next chapter update! I've tried to include a few suggestions from people's reviews so I hope y'all enjoy it. Thank you as always for taking the time to read my fanfiction. Panda cuddles for you all!**

"It's Friday, Friday! Gotta get up on Friday! Everybody's looking forward to breakfast, breakfast!" Two lazy blue eyes opened at the sound of Jamie Pierce's singing voice outside the bedroom door. "Brittany, mom says get up!" she shouted in between verses of the song. Knuckles began uncoordinatedly drumming on the echoing wood of the door as the remix continued. "Friday, Friday! Brittany, get up on Friday! Get your butt out of that bed and get yourself dressed!"

As Brittany pulled the covers off of herself, the door to her bedroom opened and Jamie's head popped through the gap. "You could have knocked," Brittany complained.

"Why?" Jamie replied. "You knew I was outside." She made a legible point.

"Mom asked me to wake you up."

Brittany sighed and flumped back into her bed. "Urgh! Why?"

"Because she's made pancakes," Jamie said, knowing it would motivate her sister. Brittany bolted straight back out of bed and looked to her sister. "Really?"

"Yup."

"With strawberries?"

"...and chocolate," Jamie confirmed.

"Okay. I'm up." Brittany pulled off her covers for a second time and hopped out of her warm bed. Smoothing out her sheets, she made her way over to her wardrobe, but then noticed that her sister was still stood at the door.

She turned to Jamie, "Can I help you?"

Jamie shook her head.

"Then what are you still doing here?"

Frowning, Jamie replied, "Is that any way to speak to your awesomely sweet baby sister, who is also amazing and nice and compassionate, and the bestest little sister anyone could ask for?"

Brittany tilted her head at Jamie and furrowed her brow. "Are you finished?" she asked; amused. Jamie shook her head.

"And," she continued smugly. "I'm super supportive of my big sister, and I'm a kind and gentle person. And I'm awesome."

"You already said awesome," Brittany reminded her.

Jamie shrugged. "I was awesome twice."

Brittany rolled her eyes and smiled at her sister. "Careful your massive head doesn't get stuck in the doorway, now." Jamie perceived Brittany's metaphorical comment to be literal and held on to either side of her head. As she left Brittany's room, her mumbled response drifted away down the stairs and Brittany missed what her sister had replied.

Hurriedly readying herself for the day, Brittany rushed down the stairs not long after and made her way into the kitchen, anticipating a yummy breakfast waiting for her. But she was somewhat disappointed.

"Morning, Britt," chirped Mrs Pierce cheerfully.

"Oh," was Brittany's response.

"_Oh_ what?"

Brittany took a seat at the breakfast table. "Jamie said you made pancakes."

Mrs Pierce turned around to face her daughter. "I slept fantastically, thank you for caring," she said mordantly.

"Sorry, mom. It's just that my so-called sister is a big fat liar," Brittany moaned.

"Speaking of the angel," chimed in Jamie as she entered the kitchen. Brittany watched her sister as she picked up her school bag and slung it over her shoulder. "I'm off to school," she announced.

Her mother frowned disconcertedly. "Do you not want a lift today?" she asked.

Jamie shook her head. "Darren's giving me a ride to school."

Brittany cocked her head. "Darren drives now?" she asked jokingly. "He's thirteen."

"Ha ha," Jamie answered back. "Actually his dad is giving us both a ride, so I have to go." She picked up the glass of orange juice that Brittany had poured for herself and took a long sip, much to Brittany's disapproval. "Later."

Mrs Pierce waved goodbye to her younger daughter as she walked back out of the kitchen. But Brittany jumped up and followed her sister out of the room, calling for her to wait. "Jamie." As she reached the hallway, Jamie turned around to face Brittany.

"What?"

"Just wait a second," Brittany asked. "I just need to speak with you about something."

Jamie sighed. "Well, make it speedy 'cause Darren's going to be here in a minute."

"I won't be long," Brittany assured. "It's just that..." She checked behind her cautiously and slightly lowered her voice so as not to attract unwanted listeners. "You remember Santana?"

Jamie nodded and smirked. "That brunette girl that was here the other day. Yeah, I remember her."

"She's not my girlfriend."

"Well, duh."

Brittany frowned. "What?"

Jamie grinned and crooked her eyebrows. "Oh, come on. You didn't really think I believed her when she said she was, did you?"

"Then why did you tell everyone in my school?" Brittany asked.

Jamie rolled her eyes. "I didn't tell everyone in the school," she corrected. "I might have mentioned it to a...friend. As a joke."

"What, why?" Jamie shrugged.

"I may have been talking to Jess and it may have slipped out."

"Jess?" Brittany raised her eyebrows. "As in your friend at school?" Jamie nodded. "You told Jacob Ben Israel's sister?" she questioned dramatically.

Jamie nodded, but then something seemed to click in her brain. "Oh," she realised. "Crap."

"Jamie!"

"Sorry!"

"It was spreading around McKinley High yesterday all day that Santana and I are dating, and now she thinks I'm a total idiot and she..." she trailed off as soon as she realised where her sentence was headed. "Nothing."

Jamie frowned; confused. "What do you care what she thinks about you?"

"I, I don't," Brittany stuttered. "I mean..."

Jamie's attention drifted to her vibrating phone and she wavered her hand on front of Brittany's face. "I've got to go, Darren's here." As she spun around to open the front door, she was stopped by Brittany's hand landing in her shoulder.

"Wait," requested the blonde.

Jamie spun back around. "What now, Britt? I have to go."

"I just wanted to say something," Brittany said slowly, cringing at her own awkwardness in front of her sister.

"Which is...?" Jamie hurried. She was bobbing up and down on the spot slightly, becoming a little impatient.

Brittany cleared her throat. "Um. It's just that...you know you're my sister, right?"

"Uh...yeah, I know I'm your sister."

Brittany grinned. "No, I mean...I just feel like I don't say some things as often as I should...you know?" The visible expression upon Jamie's face was almost comical. The girl had absolutely no idea what her sister was trying to say to her.

"Um, not really. Spit it out, Britt."

Brittany sighed. "What I'm trying to say is that you're my sister and I wouldn't change that...for the world." Jamie's gaze dropped to the floor for a moment before her eyes met Brittany's again, and she smiled a genuine smile; a happy smile; a reciprocal smile. Brittany continued. "Jaimes, I know we disagree on a lot and fight every time we see each other. In fact, there are times when you pretty much make me want to rip my own face off whenever we're in the same room together. But you really do mean a lot to me. You know that, right?" Jamie nodded.

"I know that," she acknowledged. "What's brought this on?"

Brittany considered the question for a moment. She guessed what had brought it on was the way Santana had spoken about Jamie when she had confronted Brittany in the school bathroom. She hadn't defended her sister. "Nothing," Brittany said simply.

"Well, um," said Jamie. "You know...I...um, feel the same way, right?"

Brittany gave a toothy grin at her sister.

"Yeah," she said. "I know."

A muffled beep from outside interrupted the two girls' heart to heart conversation. Jamie announced her departure and opened the front door, making to leave the house.

"Jamie," Brittany said, stopping her in her tracks once more. Jamie turned around and tilted her head to the side. "Yeah?"

"Love you."

With a small smile on her face, Jamie dropped her gaze to the ground and returned Brittany's confession, "Love you too," and then she left the house.

* * *

Brittany walked out of her first class and headed down the corridor towards her locker. Sam was absent today. She had spoken with him on the phone that morning before she left for school. At first, Brittany was worried that he might have been avoiding school in fear of bumping into Santana, but after hearing his suffering over the phone at having a spider stuck in his ear, her worry disappeared. Well, the worry about him skiving had disappeared, but she was still concerned about the spider in his ear, obviously.

Turning the final corner, she carried on down the corridor as normal. But as soon as she regarded Santana stood in front of her locker, she halted suddenly. Santana was looking straight at Brittany, but the look on her face was altered; the usual badass, intended menace, I-don't-give-a-damn expression that she normally chose to display to people around her was replaced by a look that Brittany hadn't seen before.

Brittany stood exposed in the hallway, waiting for Santana to indicate something first. And she did; a subtle nod of the head and a flick of the eyes towards a classroom indicated for Brittany to follow her. And, like an obedient puppy dog, Brittany followed.

The classroom, as expected, was empty when Santana entered. She waited a few seconds for Brittany to enter, and then pushed the door to. Brittany turned around to face her.

"Hi," said Santana, her face expressionless, but a hint of friendliness in her voice. It surprised Brittany, who was only used to the harsh tone that Santana used when speaking to her; mainly insulting her.

"Um, why are we in here?" Brittany asked nervously. Despite Santana's noticeable differences in attitude, Brittany still couldn't help but feel slightly uneasy around the brunette.

"So nobody can overhear us," Santana replied simply.

Brittany nodded, showing she understood. Although she still didn't understand, not really. "Are you gonna beat me up?"

Santana frowned. "What?" She sounded surprised - maybe even startled by Brittany's question. "No, of course I'm not."

"Then why are we in here?" Brittany asked again, secretly relieved and reassured by Santana's definite answer, but still confused as hell.

"I told you. So nobody else can hear."

"Well, why don't you want anyone else to hear?" Brittany demanded suddenly. Her confusion was making her angry. And even in front of the school bully, she couldn't control it. "You're not making any sense."

"A lot of people tell me that," Santana answered.

Brittany's brow furrowed. "Just tell me why you brought me in here. Are you mad at me for what Sam said to you?"

"No," Santana answered the latter question, but bypassed the first. "Why isn't he in school?" she asked.

"He's sick."

"You sure he's not just skiving because of yesterday?"

"Sam doesn't skip school," Brittany assured her. "Why are you changing the subject?"

"I'm not," Santana replied. "You're the one who brought him up. I simply answered your question."

"Then why won't you answer me why we're alone in here out of hearing range of anybody else?" Brittany asked again. In all of her shy school life, she had never once spoken so boldly to anyone, especially not anyone like Santana. She could feel her cheeks reddening.

"I just wanted to talk to you."

"About what?" Brittany pushed.

"Can't things ever be complicated?"

Confusion was getting the better of her. All of that unused, built up rage from past school situations was getting the better of her. Her emotions were getting the better of her. "What does that even mean?" she snapped. "I don't know what you want from me. You shoved me against a locker for no reason, you slushied me, you constantly insult me whenever you get the chance. I've barely known you a week and you're just constantly showing me how much you hate me, and you won't even tell me why."

Santana's eyebrows were tilted and lips were partially separated. The dilated pupils of her dark brown eyes were staring directly at Brittany's face, and she simply answered, "I don't hate you."

"What?"

Santana repeated, "I said I don't hate you."

"Then what is your problem with me?" Brittany's cheeks were burning and her palms were becoming sweaty. She had never been confident with public speaking, but this was something else. This was standing up for herself against Santana Lopez - the girl she had undeniable feelings for despite the numerous insults and putdowns she threw at her. "Because if this is just another way of humiliating me, then I..."

"I brought you in here to apologize to you for the way I have been treating you," Santana interrupted. "That's why. And I don't want anyone to hear what I have to say to you because it's hard enough as it is."

Brittany untensed her muscles and dropped her shoulders at Santana's words. "So, what is it that you have to say to me?"

Santana's eyes dropped and she took a tiny step closer to Brittany. "It's complicated," she said.

"Just tell me."

"It's not as simple as just blurting it out to you!" Santana shouted fiercely. Taking another slightly bigger step forward, she softened her gaze and apologized. "Look, I'm sorry. It's just that...I don't know how to."

"Well, I'm fed up with the way you've been treating me all this week when you barely even know who I am. I don't do or say anything but that doesn't mean it doesn't hurt me. If you have something against me, or you just needed a shy nerd who can't defend herself to pick on, then-"

"It's not that," Santana interrupted again.

Brittany stared at Santana's face as the girl dropped her gaze; the look on her face reminded Brittany of the way in which she had seen her through her bedroom window the night before. But before she had the time to consider the consequences of mentioning it, she was already speaking. "I saw you crying last night in your room."

Santana looked up suddenly. Her eyes darkened and her jaw clenched. "What?"

"I didn't mean to," the blonde added, quickly and honestly. "I wasn't spying on you or anything." And then she realised how creepy she was sounding.

She wasn't sure what she had triggered inside Santana. Was she about to burst out crying again? Or was she about to start yelling? She just couldn't tell by the ambivalent look on her face. "I'm sorry," Brittany said quietly.

"You had no right to...see me like that," Santana suddenly spat, stepping closer to Brittany and tensing her entire body. Brittany interdependently took a step back at Santana's unexpected movement.

"Why?"

"Because," she took another step forward. Brittany looked into her eyes and noticed they were slightly brimmed with tears. "I'm not like you." The tone in Santana's voice was becoming vicious and, based on that and the things she was saying, Brittany could tell she was acting protective of herself. "You had no right!"

"I'm sorry..." Brittany began.

Santana cut her off. "I can't do this," she said, turning on the spot and beginning to walk away from Brittany. But the blonde wasn't going to give up that easily; she needed answers and she needed then now.

"No. Wait." She went after the girl at a faster pace, overtaking her and obstructing the doorway.

What happened next was the last thing Brittany had expected.

At first Brittany had been expecting Santana to use force against her. And while she did find herself being pushed backwards into the door, it was not followed by any sort of violence at all. Santana crushed her lips against Brittany's, her hands fisted into the blonde's sweater. The kiss only lasted a second, but when it ended both girls drew back looking just as stupefied as the other.

And then, without another word, Santana opened the door behind Brittany and ran out.


	9. Chapter 9

**Next chapter! I hope you enjoy it...**

For most people, high school is a popularity contest. There are always two types of people in high school: the popular kids at the top of the school, and everyone else. The popular kids are never personally or openly laughed at, bullied or shown any other sort of disrespect. But it isn't simply the case that they do nothing to cause unwanted judgement and humiliation. Everybody wants to fit into high school; nobody wants to be the odd one out who gets picked on for who they are. And a big reason why the popular kids never get picked on for who they are is because they pretend to be someone they are not.

Then there is everyone else; all of the other kids, some of whom desperately want to be a 'popular kid' and "fit in", and others - who may have to put up with a slushie facial here and there, and an occasional teasing - who find much more satisfaction and a sense of freedom and pride in being themselves and not trying to cover up who they are. People like Sam Evans and Brittany S. Pierce.

Santana Lopez - if you asked her - would probably tell you that she's not afraid of anything; not spiders or snakes, heights or flying in planes, the dark, thunder and lightning, injections. According to her, she is immune to every single common or uncommon phobia known to man. But everyone knows that is untrue. She may be able to pick an inch-long spider out of the bathtub with her bare hands, or walk along a meter-wide cliff top that is 1000 yards up from the ocean, but just as everyone does, Santana Lopez had a fear. She wouldn't admit to it or openly acknowledge it, but she knew it was there. And she knew it was the one thing stopping her from being her true self.

_Judgement. _

Santana fled from the classroom as quickly as she could without looking back at Brittany. She wasn't sure whether or not she was being followed by the blonde or not, and she didn't give herself much time to find out as she ran along the corridor, swiftly dodging the other students occupying it. Catching the attention of the kids as she was running passed, she carried on until she reached the other end of the school by the gym locker room. Cautiously checking it was empty, she entered and pulled the door closed behind her.

Back in the empty classroom Brittany stood glued to the floor, speechless. She had considered running after Santana and confronting her this time. _But what would she say?_ The girl had just kissed her, after she had made out for the entire week that she had some unknown thing against her. _What could she say? _

However confused Brittany was at the way Santana acted around her before now had only multiplied after the kiss; she just couldn't get her head to focus. She unconsciously made her way to leave the room, but then halted in her tracks. She couldn't just walk out seconds after Santana ran out like that. What if people had seen Santana? Judging by the way she ran out, Brittany was almost certain that she had caught people's attention along the way. And how bad would it look for Brittany to just walk out after with a nonplussed expression on her face. _What if people saw her?_

Brittany decided she would stay put until break was over and just hope that the classroom would stay unoccupied next period. The last thing she wanted was for someone to walk in, let alone an entire class of people.

After waiting several uncomfortable minutes while pacing the room, the bell for second period finally sounded and she heard the familiar rustle of students getting to their classes from outside the room. When all went quiet, she peeked her head out of the door. As she had hoped, the corridor was empty. She slowly made her way out of the classroom, still cautious when looking around; not only was she worried about being caught by a group of seniors, but she also wanted to avoid bumping into any teachers, since she should be in class and not sneaking around the school during lesson time. Abruptly, she made her way to her English classroom.

* * *

After being scolded by the teacher for arriving exactly _"seven minutes and twenty-two seconds late"_, Brittany spent the next hour and a half drowning out the sound of the teacher's teaching and instead letting her mind drift as she stated out of the window. She was pretty sure Mrs Jones had set the class a task to complete, but Brittany, frankly, didn't care one bit.

When she thought about how long she had actually known Santana, she internally scoffed at the thought. The first time she had even seen the brunette was not even a week ago. Four and a half days; and then, Brittany didn't really even know her at all. Four and a half days felt so much longer than it actually was. And in just that short amount of time Brittany had seen Santana for the first time, had conjured up an attraction for her, had been slushied, threatened and humiliated by her, had been rumoured to have been dating her - which she was glad to observe had been forgotten almost instantly, which just went to show how ridiculous and insignificant rumours really were at McKinley High - had been put with her to complete an after school project, and had been kissed by her.

Brittany pondered on the last for a moment, the realisation of what had actually happened suddenly hitting her square in the brain. Santana had kissed her. Really, actually, properly kissed her on the lips. _So what did that mean?_ Did Santana..._like_ her?

Shaking her head profusely, she brushed off the thought.

But then why had Santana kissed her? And what was it that she wanted to say to her that got her so worked up? _No_, Santana didn't _like_ her. _How could she?_ Brittany thought. Just because she couldn't think of a reason why didn't necessarily mean that there wasn't another simple reason why Santana had kissed her. There had to be another reason.

As Brittany's gaze became unfocused as she stared out of the window into the school parking lot, she heard a distant call of her name. It didn't quite register properly the first time, not until an unexpected palm flashed in front of her daydreaming view.

"Brittany, are you listening to a word I'm saying?" asked Mrs Jones.

Brittany snapped her head around, blinking a few times to clear the blur from her eyes. The teacher was stood over her, hands on hips, a frown on her brow. "Huh?" she murmured, dazed.

Mrs Jones stared down at Brittany with such superiority and sternness. "You can explain to the class what it was that I was just talking about," she said.

Brittany dropped her eyes from the teachers face, blushed and thought. She had no clue. She wasn't even aware the teacher had been speaking, let alone what she was speaking about. Her embarrassed eyes travelled around the classroom for a hint and landed on the whiteboard.

Brittany said the first thing that she saw written on the board as her answer, "Um...Shakespeare?"

Mrs Jones sighed and dropped her arms. "Brittany, you do know you are supposed to be in an English lesson, and you are supposed to be listening and not daydreaming out of the window." As she made her way to the front if the classroom, she continued, "_Shakespeare _is not an acceptable answer."

Brittany felt her cheeks turning a darker shade of red as she studied the board more carefully. "Sorry," she apologized.

"Brittany, I think you need to stay afterschool. Maybe that will teach you to start listening during your English classes."

"You mean detention?" Brittany asked, feeling small.

"Yes, Brittany. _Detention._ Do not be late."

After that, Mrs Jones left Brittany alone. Brittany hated when she did that; embarrassed her in front of the class. Were the teachers not supposed to be the supportive ones in the school compared with the students? Normally she was a very alert student; even a "_teacher's pet_". But the very first time she had turned up for her English class, Mrs Jones had judged her from the minute she walked into the classroom, and since then had continuously picked on her for some unknown reason that Brittany just couldn't figure out. So she just didn't bother in her classes anymore.

Brittany had never received a detention from any teacher before. As she took a subtle glance around the classroom she noticed that her classmates looked just as surprised as she felt. But instead of internally working herself up about it, she just shrugged it off. The way she saw it, there's a first time for everything.

And, honestly, she had much more important things on her mind.

Who knew, maybe this would build her reputation in the school and she wouldn't have to put up with being known as the "_lady-loving geeky freak_" at the bottom of the school, having to put up with slushies and teasing. She didn't want to be a 'popular kid', she just wanted to be respected, and didn't want to always be seen as boring. And what better way than to be seen as a rebel detention-goer. Because detention meant disobeying a school rule in some manner, and disobedience meant bye-bye goody-goody and hello to the first golden star of her badass record.

* * *

As Brittany ate her lunch alone in her and Sam's usual spot in the cafeteria - only without the Sam - there was no trace of Santana anywhere. Not in the cafeteria, not by her locker, not hanging around the parking lot. Brittany felt as though she desperately needed to speak with her about what happened, but she would never know where to start. No matter what she had said to Santana before, or how boldly she had stood up for herself, it hadn't changed the fact that Brittany was a very shy girl who found it difficult to express her thoughts and feelings, especially in such an environment as high school. The only person in McKinley that Brittany felt that she could trust and be open and honest with was Sam, and he wasn't there.

Well, maybe there was one other person.

"Hi," said the warm, acquainted voice of a friend; a friend who had been newly formed only days ago through her best friend.

Brittany looked up at the face of the friend and smiled a smile if familiarity. "Oh. Hello," she replied, happily surprised.

"You mind if I sit with you?"

Brittany shook her head. "Course not. Please, sit."

Mike Chang set his tray down on the table and removed his backpack, taking a seat opposite Brittany and returning the smile she had given him. "How are you?" he asked kindly. "No more uncalled for slushie facials, I see."

"Oh," said Brittany, slightly lowering her head. "You saw that too?"

Mike nodded his head sadly.

"Well, um, I'm good. Thank you. And, no, no more slushie facials," Brittany grinned. Obviously, she intentionally missed out the part about the kiss. Mike was the nicest guy Brittany knew of in the school other than Sam, but she wasn't ready to be that honest with Sam yet, let alone him.

Mike nodded. "That's good."

After a moment of silence, Brittany spoke up. "So, how are you?" she asked, suddenly feeling rude for not returning the question sooner.

"I'm good, thanks," Mike smiled. Brittany's nod lingered as she took a bite of her sandwich. "So, no Sam today?" Mike asked. "I, um, noticed he wasn't in first period today."

Shaking her head, Brittany replied, "He's sick today. This morning he found a spider in his ear and they couldn't get it out. I think it might have even pooped on his brain," and joked with an amused smile. As she looked across at Mike, she noticed the look of concern on his compared with the look of amusement on hers. She quickly reassured him, "He's fine, though. It's nothing serious."

Mike's face softened a little at the reassurement. Brittany fondly smiled to herself at how much Mike seemed to care about Sam. It was cute. And it made her think back to when she had seen them making googly-eyes with each other not long ago.

"Good," Mike replied.

"I spoke with him this morning. Obviously to his other ear - the one without the bug infestation," Brittany said, smiling to herself again. "And he told me he would be at home resting all day. I'm going to go see him later on this evening. I'm sure he would be more than happy to receive an afterschool visit from a certain someone else," she hinted.

Mike raised his eyebrows in question. "_Me?"_

Brittany nodded.

"But I don't know where he lives."

"I can show you where he lives," Brittany solved the problem, much to Mike's dismay. She knew he wanted to visit, but he was nervous. Of course he was nervous. But then Brittany remembered something. "Oh, um, if you don't mind waiting."

"What do you mean?"

Brittany tried to keep her face straight. "Um. I kind of got detention today."

Mike raised how eyebrows a second time, only this time for a different purpose. "Detention?"

"Yeah."

"Wow." Brittany couldn't tell whether he was impressed or shocked, or both. "But you never get detention."

"Yeah. I kind of wasn't listening in English class," Brittany explained.

"Cool," Mike concluded, revealing to Brittany that he was, in fact, impressed.

Brittany smiled, and then thought for a moment. "I don't really want to make you hang around school for an hour after school, and I don't know where you live. So how about I draw you a map of where Sam lives?" Brittany pondered.

"A _map_?"

Nodding, Brittany added, "He doesn't live too far from McKinley. His house it quite easy to find. And, plus, I have Art next anyways." And also, Brittany didn't want to intrude upon their little moment together.

"Okay," Mike answered. "Thanks."

Brittany smiled, happy to help. "No problem. What lesson do you have last?"

"Gym."

"Right. I'll meet you by the gym with the map."

Mike nodded, but still looked a little unsure. "You really think he'd like to see me?" Brittany anticipated Sam's reaction to Mike showing up to his house; ecstatic to see him, but mortified about being in his pyjamas.

"Yeah. I'm pretty sure he and his Transformers pjs will be more than happy to see you."

* * *

After dropping off to Mike the hand-drawn map of the route from McKinley to Sam's house - which she was actually quite proud of - Brittany made her way to the detention room. On her walk there, she found herself wondering who else would be in detention with her. She was almost certain Noah Puckerman would be there; she couldn't remember a day when he didn't get detention, even if he didn't turn up some of the time. _But who else would turn up? _

As she reached the classroom, she peeked through the door; the room was empty aside from the teacher, Mr Schuester. Brittany walked in, catching Mr Schuester's attention. He furrowed his brow. "Brittany? What are you doing here?"

"Um, this is detention, right?" she asked, suddenly unsure of herself.

Mr Schuester nodded. He looked rather surprised to say the least. "Right. Well, um, take a seat."

Brittany sat herself towards the back of the classroom. The first few minutes of silence in the classroom - knowing full well that Mr Schuester was giving her perplexed looks - were probably the most awkward moments of Brittany's school life. She sat almost completely still other than the dissipated tapping of her foot and the twiddling of her thumbs. Pulling her sleeves over her knuckles, her eyes drifted towards the door, urging somebody to enter.

The first person to walk in was not somebody she had expected to see in detention, but then again, she supposed that not a lot of people would have expected her herself to be either. Rachel Berry walked through the door, smiles and all, and marched straight up to Mr Schuester's desk. Brittany could see she seemed to be holding some sort of multicoloured hardback folder.

"Mr Schue," she announced. "I have the documents that you asked for."

"Uh, thank you, Rachel. But I asked Ms Pillsbury to get those for me. How'd you get hold of them?" Mr Schuester replied, confused.

Rachel smiled. "I have my ways. And I just thought, since I was walking this way anyway that I could save her an extra trip and deliver them to you myself. She seemed more than happy for me to take them off of her hands. Well, I think she was pleased, anyway."

Mr Schuester smiled and took the folder. "Thanks, Rachel."

Rachel stood where she was, staring at Mr Schuester as he looked up at her, feeling uncomfortable. "Uh, Rachel?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you for the documents."

"Oh, sorry. Of course. You want me to leave. This is detention after all," she clicked on. "Well, I shall see you in Glee Club next week, and I am very much looking forward to my solo." Without even taking notice of Brittany's presence, Rachel left the room, and Mr Schue sighed.

Another moment of awkward silence passed until another person entered the room; a person who instantly caught Brittany's attention. And she thought she had been surprised to see Rachel Berry entering the room.

Mr Schuester turned his head and greeted the newcomer. "Santana. Take a seat."


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

"Santana. Take a seat."

Just seeing Santana again for the first time since the kiss almost stole the air from Brittany's body. Her feet stopped moving mid-tap and her hands clasped together nervously. After wanting to speak with the girl for the majority of the day since the morning, Brittany actually now realised how difficult her nerves were going to make this for her. She was unsure of whether to make eye contact with Santana or not, but before she got a chance to decide, Santana had already turned around and made the decision for her.

There were those dark mysteries staring at her from across the classroom, so deep and dark - not only in colour and tone, but also in depth. Everytime Brittany looked into Santana's dark, dark brown eyes she always saw the same look of obscurity, but she also saw something new. She couldn't describe it, she certainly couldn't explain it; she only knew it was there. But it was a look that didn't need to be examined in that way. Not now.

As Santana abruptly broke the eye contact, Brittany took the chance to study the reaction on the girl's face as she picked a seat to sit in; the girl looked ... nervous. But, surprisingly, not surprised. It didn't seem to faze her that Brittany was in detention. Either that or she was too caught up in what had happened not long before to notice too much.

The room remained silent. And, if possible, the atmosphere was even more awkward than it had been before Santana arrived, so much so that Brittany swore she could hear a Mexican Wave of muffled sighs of relief travel around the room as another person entered the room. Luckily, it was Noah Puckerman who always knew how to break the tension.

"What's up, losers?" he greeted, without looking around the classroom. However relieved he had been of Puck breaking the awkward silence in the room, Mr Schuester turned his head to the boy and shushed him.

"Puck. Come in quietly. This is detention."

Puck put up his hands defensively, and then turned to find a seat. Before he sat down, his eyes caught Brittany sat at the back and he wolf-whistled. "Bad-girl Pierce. Never thought I'd see you in here. What are you in for?" he asked, as though this were some sort of prison.

Before Brittany could answer, which would have been a highly unlikely occurrence anyway, Mr Schuester used his warning tone on Puck. "Puck. I'm not going to ask you again."

Puck sat down in his seat towards the front, instantly adapting to his chair by slouching as he began to fiddle with a small yellow post-it note that, from Brittany's view from the back, was blank. She watched him screw it up into a tiny ball and attempt to throw it towards the bin by Santana's seat.

Brittany had always thought Puck was a nice guy. He was loud, and occasionally rude and obnoxious, but never to her. And he was actually quite an entertaining class clown in the subjects they shared.

The four of them waited several moments for any other newcomers. But nobody else turned up. Mr Schuester stood up and picked up his keys.

"Wait, you're going to lock us in here. What if there's a fire or something?"

Mr Schue sighed. "Puck, do you have to ask that question every time I'm in charge of detention?"

Puck shrugged. "I guess so."

Mr Schue explained, probably for the benefit of Santana and Brittany, who were both supposedly new to all of this. "I'm not locking the door. These are my car keys."

"What, so you're going to leave us in here with the door locked and drive off home?" Puck asked, putting on a mock-serious face.

"Puck, just sit quietly until the hour is up and don't disrupt anybody." Mr Schuester made to leave the room. "And besides, I don't trust leaving my car keys with you in here." And then he walked out of the room, pointed a finger inside, reminding the three of them, "No talking," and then closed the door behind him.

As soon as the door clicked shut, Puck immediately pulled out his phone and plugged in his earphones. Brittany glanced subtly over his shoulder from a far distance and saw that he was playing Angry Birds. She could even hear the distant muffles coming from his earphone speakers, so she knew he was completely out of hearing range. But it didn't matter either way; she knew she was too much of a coward to speak to Santana anyway.

Brittany pulled out her phone and typed up a message and sent it to Sam: _'Hey. Sorry I can't be there sooner to check how you are. I'll see you soon. I hope you enjoy your surprise :)'_

Sam's reaction to Brittany getting detention was priceless. She had called him before third period to let him know - obviously failing _'accidentally'_ to mention his little surprise guest - and he spent the rest of the phone call laughing his head off at the thought. She was glad he found it so funny.

Brittany had been too occupied with her cell phone to notice what had happened straight under her nose. As she looked up from her screen and put her phone away, her eyes caught something on the end of her desk. The crumpled up post-it note that had landed beside the bin was now straightened out and stuck onto her desk with a neat handwritten note. Since there were only two other people in the room, one being Noah Puckerman who had the scrawniest handwriting in McKinley, and since the screwed up post-it had landed only a meter from Santana's chair, Brittany had a pretty good idea of who the note was from.

Lifting her head, she was met with the back of Santana's head, as if she hadn't moved at all. She was sneaky.

Brittany picked the note from the desk and looked at what it read. Twitching her mouth to the side, she glanced up at Santana, who was still facing away from her, and pulled out a pen. On the back of the post-it she wrote a response. She was pretty certain she couldn't deliver the note to the girl quite as smoothly and discretely as it was received, so instead she screwed the note up into a ball and threw it across the room without thinking, watching as it landed unintentionally but rather skilfully on the girl's desk.

She looked over at Puck, who didn't seem to care - or notice for that matter. Watching from a distance, Brittany observed Santana scoop up the paper ball and flatten it out on her desk. Santana read the note that Brittany had written back:

_'No I haven't told anyone'_

She smiled to herself. She waited a moment and glanced over at Puck, who was still occupied with catapulting birds, before slowly turning her head to look at Brittany. Santana's movement caught Brittany's attention and she looked up at the girl. Just for a second Santana's lips curled into a faint smile before she turned back around.

The blonde pulled out a notepad from her bag and ripped out a page, cringing at the _Victorious_ logo at the bottom, but then shrugging her shoulders. Santana wouldn't care about that. She scribbled something down and then screwed it up into a ball. Attempting to throw it to Santana did not go quite as well this time and instead of landing on her desk as it had before, it shamefully rebounded off of the table behind her and bounced into her calf. Santana felt the paper ball hit her leg and picked it up. She read to herself what it said:

_'But you need to be honest with me' _

Santana wrote back: _'There's nothing to be honest about'_, and then placed it on the table between herself and Brittany.

Reaching out to grab it, Brittany read it and replied. _'Why did you kiss me?'_

Santana wrote back: _'I don't know what you're talking about'_

_'You're the one that brought this whole thing up' _

_'Well, can we just drop it now' _

_'I don't want to drop it' _

_'Why not?' _

_'Because I like you' _

_'Why? I'm awful to you' _

_'Well, I know why you're awful all the time' _

_'So why are we still talking about this?' _

_'Because I want to help you to be more honest' _

_'About what?' _

_'I think you know what' _

_'I'm not gay' _

_'I didn't say you were' _

_'And I didn't kiss you because I'm in love with you' _

_'I didn't say that either. But I do want to help you' _

_'Why?' _

_'Because I know you're not happy right now' _

_'That's not your problem' _

_'It kind of is' _

_'Look, I'm sorry for taking my bad mood out on you this past week, but you can't do anything to help, because there's nothing more to it than just a bad mood' _

_'I think there is'_

Santana turned around and yelled at Brittany, "Just because you have a crush on me does not give you the right to tell me what to do with my life!"

The two of them looked over to Puck, but he hadn't noticed one bit. Santana turned back around, seeing as she had already broken the silence between them - she didn't see any point in continuing sending notes to each other. And, plus, she wasn't really expecting or hoping to receive much of a reply from the girl.

"I'm sorry I yelled. But just back off," she said more calmly than before.

Brittany felt herself blushing, but replied to the brunette regardless. "I just want to be your friend, and friends help each other."

Santana sighed and shook her head. "I don't make friends. And I don't need help."

"So what about our project?"

Santana shrugged.

"Shall I continue it by myself?"

"Look, Brittany, just give me some space," she said, irritated. Standing up abruptly, she picked up her bag and slung it over her shoulder. And then she left the room.

Puck didn't even notice that.

Brittany spent the rest of her time in detention watching Puck fling pieces of rubber onto Mr Schuester's chair. But before Santana walked away from the room, she hovered in the doorway, making sure to be out of sight of Brittany's view, and watched the girl drop her head and sigh. Santana allowed her back to rest against the wall outside the classroom for a moment as she too dropped her head and sighed.

_Why can't I just tell her the truth? _

Tugging on the strap across her shoulder, she pushed herself forward and walked away, full of regret.

* * *

Brittany turned up at Sam's house at around five o'clock. On her way home from school she had stopped off at the local supermarket and bought him a pack of M&Ms - which she knew was his favourite candy - and a pair of socks with fluffy pink bunnies. That should make him feel better. Although, she wasn't so sure he really needed any more cheering up after his little visit from Mike.

After knocking on the door and being greeted by Mrs Evans, Brittany made her way up to Sam's room and knocked on the door to make sure he was decent.

"Come in!" called Sam from inside. "Hey, Britt," he greeted as Brittany entered.

"How are you feeling?" asked Brittany as she sat herself on the edge of his bed.

Sam leaned over to reach for something beside his bed. He pulled up a small jar filled with plants. "We got the spider out," he said. Brittany studied the jar and noticed the spider perched on top of one of the leaves sitting at the bottom.

"Aw," she said. "It's so cute."

"I know right? I thought you'd want to see it before I put it back in the garden. I know how you love spiders."

Brittany smiled and nodded. She watched Sam as he placed the jar on top of his bedside table, and then held up the M&Ms.

Sam beamed. "Aw, Britt! You shouldn't have!"

"Yeah, I should have," Brittany said.

Sam grinned and agreed, "Yeah, you're right."

The blonde girl waited until after Sam was finished examining every single part of the M&M packet - something which she had noticed was a common thing to do when receiving presents, to show complete appreciation and interest in the gift you've been given, even if you already know what the packaging looks like, just so you don't look as though you are pushing it aside. She held out the socks for Sam to take. His smile widened.

"Bunny socks?"

Brittany corrected him, "_Pink_ bunny socks."

"Thanks, Brittany. I love them. And they've definitely made me feel better."

Brittany grinned. "Speaking of making you feel better..." Her eyes drifted down to look at Sam's _Transformers _pyjamas and she stifled a giggle. "How was your visit?"

Sam's eyes opened slightly wider. "Um...what visit?"

"Sam. You know I know. I know I know. Mike knows I know. Even the _Cabbage Patch Kids_ in _Toys R Us_ know I know," Brittany said. "So...?"

Sam's grin was like one of a little girl who's just received a new doll's house for her birthday. He shrugged and looked down at his sheets. "I don't know what you're talking about," he lied.

"Then what's this?" Brittany asked teasingly as she scooped up a map on the bedside table; the exact same hand-drawn map that Mike had received from Brittany earlier that afternoon. "It looks awfully familiar."

"Why did you draw him a map to my house?" Sam asked.

Brittany shrugged. "Why not? He wanted to come and see you."

Sam's face lit up, much the same as Brittany had pictured it when Mike showed up at his bedroom door. Well, that and embarrassment. To bring him back to reality, she waved the map in front of his face.

"Why did he leave it here? Doesn't he want to come and see you again?" Brittany teased. Without waiting for a reply, she concluded, "I wouldn't blame him."

Sam playfully punched her in the arm. "_Actually_, he said he remembers the way to my house from school."

"Aw, Sammy! That's so romantic! So are you two love-birds an item now?"

"What? No. No, we're just friends. That's all," Sam said a little too quickly.

Brittany nodded slowly. "Sure. Just friends."

Sam changed the subject. "So how was Santana today? Was she mad?"

Brittany had contemplated on her walk over to Sam's house whether or not to tell her best friend about the talk, or about the new girl being in detention, or about the kiss. One moment she was planning on telling him the entire thing, and another time she found herself too caught up in the whole thing that she told herself to keep quiet. And besides, right now she was more concerned about him. And anything else could wait.

She shrugged. "I haven't seen her." A white lie wouldn't hurt.

"Oh," Sam said simply. She wasn't sure whether he believed her or just simply dropped the subject, but his face showed satisfaction with her answer. And then his face fell blank as he stared across the room at nothing in particular.

"Sam? Brittany said. She was ignored. "_Sam?"_ Still no reply. "Hey, Ryan Evans! Stop gaydreaming!"

Sam snapped into focus and looked at Brittany. "I'm not..." He frowned at Brittany. "..._gay_dreaming. And I do not look like Ryan Evans."

"I never said you did," Brittany said smartly. "Although I do think that you may even be related to him, seeing as you both have the same name and you're both blond. And you both wear pink."

"I do not wear pink," Sam protested.

With a smug smirk on her face, Brittany snatched the socks she had brought for him out of his hands and held them up. "I beg to differ."

"That doesn't count."

"Why not?"

"Because the bunnies are pink, not the socks," Sam said.

Rolling her eyes, Brittany threw the socks back into Sam's lap. "Whatever you say, Ryan."

"Well, since everyone always say you and I look like siblings, I guess that makes you Sharpay."

Brittany squinted at Sam. "So does that mean I get to boss you around?"

"Uh, no." Sam looked up and Brittany and smiled. "So, how long are you staying for?"

Slanting her head to the side, she heightened her eyebrows at him. "Why? You want me to leave?" "Uh, yeah. You're stinking up my room."

Brittany kept a composed face for as long as she could before breaking into a smile. "I don't know. As long as it takes to cheer you up."

Sam gave a broad grin, but Brittany shook her head. "You're gonna have to do a lot better than that." And then she pounced on him with a tickle attack.

* * *

That night, Brittany readied herself for bed. As she slipped under her sheets, curling her legs around Lord Tubbington, she starred up at her Vincent Van Gogh ceiling.

There was something going on with Santana, she was sure of it. She wasn't presuming anything, but she knew it was something. And all she wanted to do was help. Because no matter what had happened between the two of them, no matter how long they had actually known of each other, no matter how much Santana insulted her and teased her and humiliated her, Brittany actually cared about her.

That's just who she was.

But _maybe_, she thought, it was best to just keep her distance for the time being. Pushing anybody to do something they don't want to was not the way Brittany went about things. Of all people, she was the one who knew about the fear of being forced into something, so she was not about to go and do just that with Santana. But the girl still confused her. Even more so now. She guessed for now she just had to play the waiting game. If Santana wanted to be her friend, she just had to wait.

And maybe, just maybe there was the slightest possibility that the kiss had meant she wanted more than just friendship.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven**

Brittany's nose twitched as something tickled her face. Her sleepy eyelids drifted apart, revealing the blurred furry face of Lord Tubbington through her eyelashes. She felt his damp, cold nose on the tip of her own and his whiskers tickling her cheeks. His chubby face was scrunched up, and his deep pink nose also twitching as he smelled at Brittany's face. As she opened her eyes wider and lightly blew at her cat's nose. He withdrew slightly and stared at her.

"Mew."

"What are you doing, Tubbs?" Brittany asked.

"Mew." As he hopped off of the bed, Brittany noticed he had been sitting on her arm, which now had no feeling running through it. She sat up and dangled it out in front of her pointlessly. Lord Tubbington gave another meow.

"Okay, okay. I'll feed you in a minute," Brittany said irritably. "You're the one who sat on my arm." Looking across at the time on her wall clock, her eyebrows creased and she looked pointedly at her cat. "It's Saturday, and it's six-thirty, Tubbs!" she complained.

"Mew," he replied, which assumingly translated to _'I'm hungry'_. Rolling her eyes like a stereotypical teenage girl, she pulled herself out of bed with her non-dead arm and emptied a pouch of cat food into Lord Tubbington's food bowl.

"There you are, Your _Greatness_." She wavered her floppy arm in his direction. The chubby tabby cat waddled across the room, looking up and squinting at Brittany, and began to eat his breakfast.

Getting back into her bed, Brittany tried to get back to sleep, but it was useless. She was up at six-thirty on a Saturday. She was never usually up this early, not even on a school day. Sighing heavily and shooting a resentful look at Lord Tubbington as his face mushed against his food bowl, she dragged her feet across the room to take a look outside the window through her curtains. As she expected, nobody was up yet - at least, nobody was up and out of the house. The street below her house was silent and still, even more so than it usually was.

Brittany turned around to Lord Tubbington, who looked up from his breakfast. "Why did you wake me up so early today of all days, Tubbs?" Brittany asked suspiciously. "You don't even hassle me to feed you this early on weekdays." Lord Tubbington naturally ignored her and preoccupied himself with shovelling down his food.

Brittany shrugged her shoulders and looked back outside. And she saw Santana Lopez leaving her front door and closing it behind her. She found herself inevitably wondering where Santana was going as she watched her making her way at a fast pace down the street, both hands buried in her pockets. She was curious and also slightly suspicious at that too.

When Santana disappeared out of view, Brittany turned back to Lord Tubbington, who had now hopped back up on Brittany's bed and was cleaning himself without a care. "What do you think she's doing, Tubbs?" she said rhetorically. Lord Tubbington halted cleaning his paws and rolled over in the sheets lazily. It didn't take long for him to fall asleep. Brittany just rolled her eyes at him. "Well, I'm glad _somebody's_ happy now," she said cynically.

For the next hour and a half, Brittany lay in her bed and watched The Wizard of Oz. Curled up to her side was Lord Tubbington as he slept peacefully earning quite a look of displeasure and somewhat jealousy from the blonde girl.

As soon as the movie finished, there was a knock at her bedroom door. "Come in, dad," Brittany called. And, as she had presumed, in walked Mr Pierce with a puzzled look on his face.

"How did you know it was me?"

"You're the only person in this house that knocks."

Mr Pierce stood still for a moment to think about what Brittany had said, and then nodded his head in agreement. "Yeah, I guess you're right." He pushed the door to behind him and perched on Brittany's bed. Brittany sat up and switched off her television.

"What's up, dad?" she asked.

"I wanted to talk to you about something," replied her father.

"Oh."

"Your mother and I have - well, and your sister actually - we've been noticing a ... change," he explained.

"In what?"

"_You_," he said.

Brittany furrowed her brow briefly, but then her expression turned to slight worry. Especially since her dad had mentioned Jamie. Had her sister told their parents about Santana? She certainly didn't want to have to explain to either one of them yet about what was going on between the two of them, since she barely had a clue herself. "Um," she spoke cautiously. "What ... _change_?"

"Well," said Mr Pierce. "You've been acting sort of distant this past week. I was just worried whether everything is okay in Happyville."

Brittany smirked for a moment. She knew he was imitating her mother. Not long ago, Mrs Pierce had invented a place called _Happyville_ which was made exclusively Brittany's clandestine, sacred place up in her head. She had named it '_Happyville_' to show Brittany that no matter how difficult a problem she kept hidden up in her head seemed, there was always a way around it; a way to look at the _happy_ side. No one was allowed to enter Happyville - largely due to the fact that it was supposedly impossible for anyone to enter her head anyway, unless somebody owned a cool mind-reading pendant like the one Mary had in _Greeks Bearing Gifts. _Probably not, since it was crushed by Toshiko's foot at the end of the episode. But also because Mrs Pierce saw it as a way to get her daughter to really open up to them, without feeling as though they were invading her privacy. So it meant that when Brittany felt comfortable enough to open up about something in Happyville - such as her sexuality - she would talk to her parents about it. And it would be her decision to share it - with a little encouragement.

Brittany dropped her eyes for a moment. Honestly, not _everything_ was okay in Happyville, but whether or not to tell her father about it was a tough decision to make. She wondered if he even knew who Santana was. Sure, he and her mom had both met Mrs Lopez, and she had spoken about Santana, but who knew if they had actually met the girl. And even if they had, if they found out what had happened between her and Brittany, how would they react?

Brittany knew these sorts of situations. She had seen plenty of movies and shows about this sort of thing: _Ashley was a good person, and Spencer knew it; but did that stop Spencer's mother from initially judging her, disapproving of her and keeping her away from her daughter._ And although Brittany's parents were accepting of her sexuality, they could still disapprove of Santana's attitude, which the girl seemed to have a lot of.

Brittany wasn't completely sure how she felt about Santana, but she still knew there was something there. She felt a spark when Santana had kissed her, even if it was overshadowed by surprise. She supposed Santana would have probably been feeling a lot like Spencer right now. Confused about her sexual orientation, scared about being different; about being judged. Generally withdrawn from being herself for fear of not being accepted.

But, then again, what did Brittany know about what Santana was feeling? It's not like she could jump inside her head and see all of her thoughts and feelings; she certainly couldn't feel what she was feeling. Maybe Santana was _definitely_ straight and not at all struggling with her sexuality. Maybe kissing her was just a way of clearing that up in her mind. Maybe Brittany was assuming all of these things about Santana that she had only made up in her own mind, because she still felt attracted towards the girl.

_What if Santana isn't gay and I just want her to be_.

The brunette had made it very clear that she wanted distance between the two of them. Maybe that was because she really didn't want anything to do with Brittany, not because she had..._feelings _for her.

_Why would anyone have those feelings for me? _

"Um...Brittany?"

The blonde blinked and looked to her dad. "Mmm?"

"Are you okay, sweetie. You've been silent for almost two minutes now," her father said, sounding concerned. "Is there something on your mind?" Brittany hesitated, and then nodded. "Something that you want to discuss?" he asked.

Again, hesitating, Brittany shook her head and smiled at her dad. "It's nothing really," she reassured herself as well as him. "It's just school and stuff. And Sam. I'm worried about him and wondering if he's okay."

"Well," said Mr Pierce. "I'm sure he'd feel a lot better after a special visit from his best friend. Maybe a little present to keep him occupied?" he hinted.

Brittany nodded. "I got him some chocolate yesterday; I went over to see him after school. And I was planning on visiting today so maybe I can take him - I don't know - a game or movie or something to cheer him up."

"Yeah, that sounds great. You know, he's very lucky to have a friend like you."

Brittany smiled, but shrugged dismissively. "I don't really feel like a great friend right now."

"Why not, sweetie?"

Shrugging again, she let out a small sigh. She knew in her head why she felt like that, but she wasn't exactly ecstatic about telling her dad about Santana and Sam's little dispute, or about the things she was keeping from Sam.

"Well, you are. You and Sam have been best friends for a while now, right? And I think you both are really good for each other. You understand each other. And I'm sure he knows how lucky he is to have you."

Brittany smiled a genuine smile. "Thanks dad."

He smiled in return and took Brittany's hand gently. "That's okay, honey. Was there anything else you wanted to talk to me about?"

"_Um..."_ Brittany thought. Although she wasn't about to let loose about the girl across the street, there was something else that had been prodding at her brain and demanding attention. "Dad, can I ask you something?"

"Of course." "Um...you know...um. You and mom...how did you feel when I told you both I was gay?" Brittany asked cautiously. "It's just that we never really talked about that part too much. Because it was mainly about how I felt."

Mr Pierce squeezed his daughter's hand softly with his own and looked into her eyes. "You know, Britt, there are some parents who - when their son or daughter tells them something like that - they act scared and they say they can't...they won't accept it. Then there are others who are more accepting and supportive. I can't speak directly for your mother but I'm sure she would say something along the same lines. When you told _me_, of course I felt I wanted to support you in any way I could. I felt happy for you for being honest about yourself. And I felt proud of you. I felt proud that you confided in the two of us about something so personal. But most of all I felt so much love for you. And I still do everytime I look at you, because I see this little baby girl who's grown up to be who she wants to be without being afraid of what others will think. And it makes me the proudest father on the planet."

Brittany looked down and smiled at his confessional speech. "So...you weren't _disappointed_ in me?"

"Your mom and I would never be disappointed in you, especially not for being true to yourself."

Brittany was glad she had a dad who she could talk to so easily about these sorts of things. She didn't feel uncomfortable - well, maybe a tiny bit because of the subject matter, but it was normal. Her last question took a little contemplating before she actually asked it. "Do you ever wish that I wasn't gay?"

Her father looked as though he was trying to work out how to word his answer. "No. I wouldn't ever wish for you to change who you are. But if I could change some people's views and opinions and judgements, then I would."

Brittany smiled widely. "Thanks, dad. You're the best."

"I know," he grinned in return. He held out his arms and Brittany shuffled over into them. "You know what, Kiddo?"

"What?"

"I'm sure you'll be just fine." As Brittany pulled back, she lowered her eyes and her face dropped a little. Her father noticed. "Sweetheart, what's wrong?" he asked. "I don't know," she said. "It's just that...I wish everyone's parents could be like you and mom. So supportive and loving. It's just so sad to think that there are people out there who just...aren't accepted like I am."

Mr Pierce smiled sadly. "I know, sweetie," he said softly. "But I'm sure those people would be glad to know that they have people like you who care about them. Right?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

Mr Pierce brushed Brittany's cheek gently as he stood up. "You want some breakfast?"

Brittany nodded and got up off of her bed. As she followed her dad out of her room and halfway down the stairs, he stopped mid-step and asked her to wake up her sister. Brittany opened her mouth to yell for Jamie–

"Brittany. _Go_ and wake your sister up," he laughed.

Brittany dragged herself back up the stairs. "Fine."

* * *

Brittany spent the majority of her weekend at Sam's house, mainly eating junk food and watching movies with him. On Sunday, Mrs Evans offered for Brittany to stay for dinner, to which she accepted happily. Sam was a lot better and had told Brittany that he would be back at school on Monday, which she was glad of. She hated when Sam wasn't at school with her. And she hated spending break and lunch on her own.

Sam walked Brittany home after their dinner and the two of them occupied themselves with a game of twenty questions about their favourite TV show. A very _long_ game of twenty questions. In fact, it took up the entire time of their walk to Brittany's house.

"Best episode?" asked Brittany.

Sam answered with no hesitation. "Blink. By far the most awesomest episode there's ever been."

"Totally."

"Okay. Favourite quote?" asked Sam.

"Um..." Brittany thought. "Ooh! I know. _'One may tolerate a world of demons for the sake of an angel.'_"

"Good one. Okay, my turn," Sam grinned.

"Um...three important life-long lessons from Doctor Who. Go."

Sam smiled and scrunched up his nose. "Only three?"

"Yuh huh."

"Okay...um... _Time can be re-written. Truth is singular and lies are words, words, words. _And ..._ Bananas are good._ Can I have one more?" he asked.

"I said three," Brittany pointed out.

"Please. It's really, really important. Like, the most important one."

"Fine."

Sam gave his cheekiest grin and said, "_Yogurt is just stiff with bits in."_

Brittany rolled her eyes at her friend. "Funny. But true. Definitely true."

"Okay, um...best companion."

"Amy!" she blurted. "No, wait, Rory! Amy and Rory! Amory! Does that count?"

"I suppose we can make it count for you," Sam said mockingly. The two of them soon reached the Pierce's front yard and Brittany stopped and turned around to face Sam.

"Thanks for walking me home. You didn't have to. Especially with your ear."

"I told you," Sam said overdramatically. "I'm all better. See?" He flicked himself on the ear as proof. "And besides, since when does _this_ affect _these_?" He pointed to his ear, and then to how legs. "I was happy to walk you home," he grinned.

"Well, thanks. I guess I'll see you tomorrow then. Are you going to be okay walking back on your own?" Brittany asked.

"I'm a big boy now," Sam replied in a childish tone. "See you tomorrow, Britt."

"Let me know you got back safely," Brittany called as Sam began to walk away.

"Will do!"

There was a pause as Sam last his way down the path and Brittany took out her keys to her front door. And then Brittany said it.

"_Best Doctor!"_ she called out. The question that must _never_ be asked.

Without turning back, Sam called back, "Ten!"

Brittany disagreed, "Eleven!"

"Nope, Ten!"

"Nope, Eleven!"

"Definitely Ten!"

"Definitely Eleven!"

Sam turned back briefly and grinned at Brittany. "Later!" he called.

Brittany watched him go. As soon as he was nearing the end of the street, Brittany stepped down her path and called out, "Eleven!"

_I win!_ she thought to herself.

Her parents greeted her as she walked through the door and dropped onto the sofa lazily. "How was Sam?" asked her dad.

"Better now," Brittany informed them. "He's back at school tomorrow."

Brittany sat with her parents and Jamie for an hour watching television, during which she received a text from Sam that read: _'I'm home :)_' A few seconds later she received a second text: '_Ten'_

Smiling to herself, Brittany replied that she would see him tomorrow at school, and thanked him again for walking her home. She didn't leave it too long before going to bed.

* * *

The next day at school, Brittany was stuck.

How was she supposed to act around Santana now? She had made it very clear that she wanted the blonde to keep out of her way and give her space. But Brittany wanted to do was make things right between them. Santana was a withdrawn person, she saw that. And so was Brittany, but withdrawn in a different kind of way. She just wanted to attempt a friendship to replace whatever it was they had now. If they even _had_ anything between them right now. She didn't know whether Santana hated her or wanted to forget that anything had happened between the two of them. Either way, it wasn't the path that Brittany wanted to take.

As she glanced across at the brunette girl from her locker, she guessed she would have to be patient. Waiting was all she could do, since the previous times she attempted to befriend Santana, she had only been shot down. And confused. And _kissed_.

She decided it was best to stay away from Santana for the time being.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve**

**I know the last chapter didn't really go anywhere, but I just wanted Brittany to figure out where she stands before jumping into Santana's POV. I appreciate all of your comments and thank you for reading. **

Santana Lopez made her way to her way to her first class, anxious not to bump into Brittany on her way. It's not that she couldn't deal with her today; it was that she couldn't deal with herself whenever she was around her. So she had kissed Brittany. That didn't make her gay, bi-curious, whatever. So she had in the past snuck a curious peek at the girls in the changing rooms. Everyone does that at least once. It's normal to...compare yourself to others...when you're a teenage girl. So she had never taken massive interest in boys, or kissing boys, or dating boys; that didn't mean she was instead interested in girls, and kissing girls, and dating girls.

Even though she already had two of those points covered.

Everytime she thought about how Brittany's lips had felt against hers, she instantly pushed it away, afraid to deal with the altercation in her head. Brittany was a girl, and whenever she thought about how much crap she would have to go through to be her true self and admit that she liked a girl, it made her conceal her true self and her feelings and keep them away from anybody else's dominance. And it wasn't just admitting her interest in Brittany that she was holding back.

Back in her old school in her old town was when she had really started to notice her preference for girls over boys. Nobody knew the inner conflict she was facing - not her parents, not the kids at school, nobody - but the things that she had heard from the mouths of the students was what had caused her to bottle her true self up. Although their comments weren't personally about her, they could have been if anyone found out her feelings. And they still hurt.

For Santana, it wasn't the matter of showing herself that the way she was feeling was okay, but more the fear of the opinions and judgements of, not only her classmates, but the entire world around her that had caused her to keep these feelings hidden.

In some way she envied Brittany, who, although painfully shy at school and withdrawn in her own way, seemed to be content with herself and didn't seem to care what others thought of her. From what Santana had seen of her in her first week at McKinley, Brittany didn't let any of the bullying or homophobic comments from her peers change who she was. Of course it hurt her, but it would never change her. Santana only wished she had that sort of willpower. Everyone else saw Santana as confident, because that was the way that she portrayed herself. But really, she wasn't.

The way Brittany had spoken to her previously had confused her. She spoke as though she cared about Santana after the way that she had acted with her; after Santana had made her think that there was hatred in the way that she felt towards Brittany - when really it was the very opposite. She didn't want to be so mean to the blonde, and she didn't know why she was mean whenever they crossed paths. If things were different; if Santana weren't so afraid of what everyone would say about her, the way they would treat her - afraid of judgement - then she would have told Brittany how she felt from the start instead of landing herself in this situation.

Brittany had said she '_liked_' Santana. What did '_like_' mean? She had only assumed that the girl meant she liked her in a friendly way, since it was followed by a declaration of wanting to be her friend. But then why, on the first night of her first day at McKinley, had she caught Brittany staring at her through her window?

_This is a mess_, Santana thought to herself.

And a mess it was. Brittany thought Santana hated her, and Santana hadn't a clue how Brittany felt about her. Too many thoughts were running through her head for Santana to be concentrating on where she was going, and she unconsciously and clumsily ploughed into somebody as she turned the corner in the corridor. Her bag fell to the floor, followed by a few sheets of paper that feathered down beside it.

Santana looked up at who she had collided with. "Sorry, Sweetcheeks. Didn't see you there," said a blonde lady who was dressed in a black turtle-neck sweater and grey skirt. As soon as she saw Santana's face, her brow furrowed. Her face showed some kind of recognition. "You're the new girl, right?"

Santana didn't answer and instead picked up the scattered paper, followed by her bag which she slung over her shoulder. As she passed the sheets back to the woman, she mumbled, "Sorry."

"Don't sweat it," said the woman. "Happens all the time. Mainly when I'm daydreaming about tacos." Santana didn't know whether to act amused or frightened, so she opted to keep a straight face. Although it obviously didn't come across as quite what she had hoped.

"Are you okay? You look glum," said the woman. Santana nodded. "I've heard quite a bit about you in the staffroom. Afterschool detention after being here just a week? That's impressive. But I have to admit that your name has slipped my mind."

"Santana," she said quietly, grasping the strap of her bag.

The woman nodded. "Of course. Santana Lopez," she said suddenly. "Well, I'm Holly Holliday." She began to whisper, "Although the other teachers don't really like it when you call me by my first name." She shrugged. "I just think they're jealous. Or stuck up. Or both."

Santana had a good sense of humour - that for some reason was just not working today. And Miss Holliday seemed to notice. "What's the matter, Sweetcheeks?" she asked.

Santana suddenly shook her head and pulled her bag up her back. "I've got to gay..._go!_ I've got to go." And with that embarrassing vocal diarrhoea mishap, she took off passed Holly Holliday without so much as a glance.

Walking swiftly to her first class, she passed the choir room and couldn't resist a quick peek. She saw Rachel Berry stood in the middle of the room singing _Popular_ from _Wicked_. For a moment, it made her think about her old school. There were times when she missed being a part of her old school show choir. But she had bottled up her singing voice around the same time as she bottled up her feelings. The way she saw it, singing showed too many emotions, and she was not prepared to let anyone see what kind of emotions she was hiding inside. So she quit. On the rare occasions that she did sing, she made sure she was completely alone. Not even her parents heard her sing anymore.

Santana carried on passed the choir room before anyone had the chance to see her, headed straight for her classroom and took a seat. She was one of the first people to arrive and sat isolated in the corner waiting for everybody else. Rachel Berry walked in almost straight behind her and sat at the front of the class. Even the teacher hadn't shown up yet.

Finally everybody was seated and walked the teacher five minutes late to her own class. "Hola, clase!" Santana looked up from drawing on her hand and studied the teacher. She recognised that voice. The teacher introduced herself. "I'm Miss Holliday," she said cheerfully. "Your normal teacher is out sick today." She briefly changed her voice to a whisper, "_Menopause_." And returned to her normal volume. "So I will be teaching you today."

Pulling out crumpled pieces of paper from her pocket - the ones Santana had accidentally knocked out of her hand by the lockers - she explained to the class why they said. "Okay, so I've been, like, instructed to give a pop quiz..." There was a chorus of muffled groans around the class at the word. "_But_," Holly continued. "Pop quizzes are boring. And they suck!" She crumpled the sheets of paper back into a ball and threw it over her shoulder. "Who wants ice cream?"

Almost every face in the room lit up, apart from a select few: a boy sat at the front of the class who glumly announced that he was lactose intolerant; Rachel Berry who thought that eating ice cream was not a "befitting use of valuable class time", and who also mentioned she was a vegan; and Santana, who just couldn't bring herself to act as though she cared.

Miss Holliday began handing out small pots of ice cream that she had "_borrowed_" from the cafeteria. As she passed Santana, she offered the girl a pot. Santana shook her head. "No thanks," she mumbled.

Miss Holliday frowned and retracted her arm. "Don't like ice cream?" she asked.

Santana shrugged. "Not hungry."

Miss Holliday carried on passing ice cream to students beside her as she spoke with Santana. "I think it's more than that. I mean, nobody can say no to ice cream, right? Well, maybe those two over there," she said, indicating to Rachel and the lactose intolerant boy. "But they're boring."

Santana shrugged again. "I guess that makes me boring."

"Damn right it does," laughed Miss Holliday. "So who's getting you down, Sweetcheeks?"

Santana looked up curiously and furrowed her brow. "Who said _someone_ was getting me down?"

"I was once a teen, you know."

"Really?" Santana joked. "'Cause you're, like, forty or something."

Miss Holliday just grinned at Santana and raised her eyebrows. "Was that a smile I just saw there, Miss Lopez?"

"Don't know what you're talking about."

"Look," said Miss Holliday, suddenly speaking a little more sternly. "My temporary office is in the janitor's closet, so whenever you're ready to talk you can always come and see me."

"I'm fine," Santana said, attempting to sound convincing and confident. But Holly could see right through her.

"Take it from me, Sweetie. Hiding behind your attitude is not the answer." She smiled and placed down an ice cream pot on Santana desk. "But this might do a pretty good job."

Santana watched her walk away and continue handing out ice creams. Looking down at the pot on her desk, she sighed and slouched back in her chair.

_Am I being that obvious?_ she asked herself.

* * *

That afternoon at lunchtime Santana made her way to her locker. Deep in thought, she was not aware of her surroundings as she swung open her locker door and unintentionally knocked a pile of books out of the hand of a passerby. She cursed and pushed the door to. As she looked down at the scattered books on the floor and the owner who was gathering them up, her stomach dropped. And she dropped to her knees.

"Um...I'm sorry," she apologized clumsily. "I didn't see you there."

"It's fine."

"Are you okay?"

The girl opposite her didn't look up but simply replied, "Nothing broken."

Santana picked up a few textbooks and the two of them stood up simultaneously. When the girl finally looked up, Santana's eyes stared into her bright blue ones. But this time, she was the first to look away.

She handed over the stray books. "Um, Brittany..." The blonde girl looked up again. "Sorry..." she said again.

"I already said it's fine," Brittany said quietly.

"I didn't mean for that."

Brittany was having a hard time keeping eye contact with Santana so opted to stare awkwardly down at the textbooks in her hand as silence fell upon them. Then she finally answered, "_Oh._" She hugged the books to her chest and briefly glanced up at Santana's face. "I have to go, um, deliver these to Mr Harris, so."

"Right." Santana stepped aside and allowed Brittany to pass. The blonde left quickly, but Santana suddenly remembered something.

She spun around and called Brittany's name. Brittany stopped and turned. "Um," the brunette began. "What about our project?"

"Oh," Brittany said, suddenly remembering. "It's due tomorrow, I forgot. I've been, um ... _distracted_."

"I can finish it if you want," Santana offered. Brittany shook her head, about to disagree, but Santana spoke again. "I don't mind."

"But we, um, kind of need to present it ... together, so I kind of need to know what's in it," Brittany pointed out.

Santana nodded. "Right. So ... what should we do?" Brittany shrugged and looked down for a moment.

"Um ... you could ... come over afterschool to get it done ... if you want."

"Okay. Thanks," Santana gave a subtle smile.

"Okay," Brittany returned the weak smile. "Um, I have to..." she trailed off, indicating to the textbooks. With a final nod from Santana, Brittany walked away letting out a gentle sigh as she went.

Santana turned back to her locker and breathed out. As she opened up her locker again, she dropped head for a moment to ponder on something. Could she tell Brittany how she really felt? She had tried to already but failed miserably and instead ended up in an unintentional lip-lock with the girl. Who knew if that itself had told Brittany how she felt? But, judging by the way Brittany had acted at detention, she guessed it hadn't. She needed help. She knew that much. And she knew there was someone in particular that she could confide in, if she just allowed herself to.

Closing her locker door, she headed for the janitor's closet. Pondering on her decision, she stood outside for a moment, lifting and lowering her hand indecisively. But before she had the chance to knock on the door, it opened and sent her backward in surprise.

"Well, well," said Miss Holliday in an amused tone. "Santana Lopez. How did I know you were going to be stood outside my office?"

Santana frowned. "You knew I was here?"

"No. But I did anticipate your visit sooner or later."

Santana dropped her head and twisted her mouth. "So, does the offer still stand?"

"You want to talk?" Miss Holliday asked. Santana nodded. "Of course it does. Come on." Santana furrowed her brow as Miss Holliday closed the closet door behind her.

"I thought you said we could talk in your office."

"Yeah," Miss Holliday pulled a face. "I kind of knocked over this bottle of blue stuff that smells like eggs and, I think, may be toxic. So, how about we go somewhere else and not tell anyone about it," she said, grinning.

"Right," Santana smiled, following Holly along the corridor. Finding an empty classroom, they both took a seat.

"So," said Miss Holliday. "What's up?"

Santana stayed silent for a moment, not knowing where to start. She had never confided in anyone about a subject such as this. "I don't know," she said unhelpfully.

"Okay then. Give me a clue. Who does it involve?"

Santana looked at her awkwardly. "Actually," she said suddenly. "I think I've changed my mind." She made to stand up but Holly stuck out her hand.

"You can trust me," she said honestly. "Don't think of me as a teacher. Think of me as ... your friend."

Santana sighed and sat back down. "That makes it twice as difficult."

"Well then, don't think of me as either. I'm just Holly Holliday."

Santana smiled and looked down. Breathing in deeply, she took a brave, metaphorical step forward. "It's Brittany S. Pierce."

Holly grinned. "_I know_, right? What is up with that girl? Who shaves off their hair and then attacks the paparazzi with an umbrella?"

Santana let a small smile fall upon her lips. "You're not helping."

"Sorry," Holly said. "Serious mode. Who's Brittany S. Pierce?"

"Just a girl who..." Santana trailed off.

"Who...what?"

Sighing nervously, Santana dropped her eyes and fiddled with her hands. "...I like."

"Right," said Miss Holliday. "So, you think you like this girl but you're afraid to admit it to yourself?"

Santana shook her head. "Not exactly. I'm ... afraid of what everyone else will say about me."

Holly nodded. "I get that."

"So what do you think I should do?" Santana asked reluctantly. "Well, I would say shove everyone else's opinion, but I'm guessing that's not going to be much help to you right now," Holly said.

Santana smiled. "It's not that simple."

"What is it that you're so afraid of?" Holly asked.

"Being judged."

"Well, I think everyone feels that way no matter what the situation," Holly said honestly. "So, I have a question. Do you think that you might be gay?"

The word stuck in Santana's mind. She knew it wasn't just a case of having an attraction to Brittany. But should she tell Miss Holliday that? "Um..."

Miss Holliday sensed her discomfort and stepped in. "I'm not going to judge you, Santana. You can tell me whatever you feel comfortable telling me, but it's not going to leave this room. Okay?"

Santana nodded. "Okay." A moment passed before she spoke again. "I think I am gay ... but I'm scared to admit it to anybody else. Back at my old school in Kentucky, I started to notice that I was more interested in girls. But I didn't want anybody to know because of the things that the kids used to say. Nobody at school knew I was ... _interested_ in girls, but the things that they used to say about gay people in general ... it really hurt. And it made me want to keep it a secret from everyone. Even my parents."

Holly nodded. "So, forgetting everyone else, how do _you_ feel about your sexuality?"

Santana shrugged. "Honestly, I don't see why people make such a huge deal about it."

"So you accept yourself?"

"Yeah, I guess I do."

"Well, that's a good thing," Holly said. "And what about Brittany? Does she know how you feel about her?"

Santana dropped her head. "Not exactly," she said, an overwhelming wave of guilt taking over her.

"_Not exactly_?" Miss Holliday repeated.

"I haven't been that ... _friendly_ to her. And now I think she might hate me. I wouldn't blame her."

"I'm sure she doesn't hate you," Holly said.

"I don't know. But now I don't know what to do," Santana said honestly.

Holly took a moment to take in everything Santana had said to her. "You need to be honest with Brittany," she advised. "Tell her how you feel, even if it's difficult. You owe her that much."

Santana nodded. "I know."

"And remember that not everyone in this world is as small-minded and judgemental as others. Teenagers can be the worst, but is it any of their business? I'm not saying you should keep it bottled up, but you don't need to tell everyone if you don't want to. Tell the people that matter to you when you're ready to. What's the saying? The people who _mind _don't matter, but the people who _matter _don't mind."

Santana smiled. "Thanks, Miss Holliday."

Holly returned the smile. "Not a problem, Sweetcheeks." Santana stood up and pulled her bag over her shoulder and Holly stood up opposite her.

"So have I helped you in anyway? How do you feel about it now?"

"Better. But nervous."

"Of course you are. You know, it's just as scary telling someone you like then when you're straight. Just be honest, right?"

"Yeah. Thanks."

Holly held up her palm. Santana hesitated, but smiled and high-fived her. "Later," said Miss Holliday.

Santana left the room and took a deep breath. She could do this. Be _honest_. Easy. She would tell Brittany how she felt about her afterschool and _nothing_ would stop her.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen**

As soon as Brittany got home from school that afternoon, she logged onto her computer to set up the project she and Santana were working on. Flicking through the slideshows, she was impressed at how much the two of them had actually gotten done already on that single day that Santana had visited. They were maybe just over halfway done, she supposed - having copied and reworded a lot of the content from a _Wikipedia_ page. Unsure of how long it would be before she heard a knock at the door, she settled down on the sofa and turned on the television.

A minute passed, and there was the knock at the door.

Brittany made her way into the hallway to answer it. She looked down at held her stomach as she began to develop butterflies. She didn't know why she had butterflies everytime she saw Santana, but she just did. Was she nervous? Almost definitely. Was she excited? It certainly seemed that way. But _why?_ Even though she had tried to keep her distance from Santana, that didn't stop her mind from consistently thinking about the girl. She had desperately tried to stop thinking about her, but it was no use. Her thoughts were out of her control.

As she saw Santana's blurred silhouette behind the glass of the front door, she felt a chill up her arms and thighs and nervously moved forward to open it. Santana was stood about a meter away from the door dressed in her usual street clothes, sporting her usual hairstyle so that her right eye was covered by her side-fringe when her head was lowered. But something about her was different; she didn't look like the normal badass, I-don't-give-a-damn attituded girl that Brittany had known her to be. For one, her posture had altered. Instead of standing the way she usually did, one hand holding the strap of her backpack casually - quite boyishly - and confidently, her bag was absent and her hands were fiddling together subtly in front of her stomach as though she were ... _nervous._ Instead of looking at Brittany with her usual mysterious but intrepid eyes, they were studying something on the ground by Brittany's feet as if she were - again - nervous.

Brittany made the first move. "Hi," she said quietly.

Santana suddenly looked up at her. "Hi," she mirrored. After a moment of silence between the two of them, Brittany cleared her throat mutedly and spoke again. "Um, do you want to come in?"

Santana gave an expression that was vaguely recognizable as a smile and stepped into the house. The scent of Brittany's house reminded her of what she was there for.

"So, um," she said to Brittany as she watched her close the door. "I guess we don't have much else to do for this project. We got quite a bit done last week."

Brittany nodded unanimously. "Yeah. I was just thinking the same thing," she said. The two of them stood awkwardly where they were. Brittany pointed through to the living room. "I, um. I set up the project on my computer. It's just through there."

She made her way passed Santana to lead the way into the living room, asking on the way, "Do you want anything to, um, eat or drink? Or anything?"

Santana shook her head. "No. Thanks."

"So, I guess we'd better get started," Brittany said, taking a seat by her computer. "Sure." The two of them spent the next half an hour researching, typing, copying and pasting to make progress on their project. There was an undeniable social awkwardness in the room between the two of them. But, as they worked, both were deep in thought, and both proportionately incognizant of what the other was thinking about.

All the while, Brittany had been asking herself one fundamental question: what had happened to Santana? What happened to her _I'm-going-to-go-all-honey-badger-on-your-ass-if-yo u-so-much-as-look-at-me _attitude? Or her self-confidence? The first time Brittany had noticed the change in Santana had been earlier that day when she had walked into the girl's locker door by accident. She had actually _apologized_ and helped her with her books - something that she never would have pictured the girl who had thrown an ice-cold slushie in her face to do.

Beside her, Santana's thoughts were racing so fast they were making her brain throb. She kept on asking herself the same question over and over again: _what has happened to my confidence?_ Santana was usually a pro at making herself appear fearless and self-assured. But now that she had exposed the side of herself that she feared the most to Miss Holliday, she had since felt diffident, and weak. And now planning on telling _Brittany_ the real reason why she had been such a bitch to her was enough to turn her into _yet another_ person she didn't recognise.

As Brittany finished off the finishing touches of their slideshow, making it look pretty, Santana looked at the screen and said, "You're really good at that."

Brittany glanced sideways at her. "Good at what?"

"Making things look artistic," the brunette expanded. "It looks really cool."

Brittany smiled shyly. "Um, thanks."

Santana looked at Brittany for a second and then stood up slowly. "I just need to use the bathroom," she said.

Brittany stood up too. "Oh right, of course. It's just on the left as you go upstairs. The room next to my bedroom," she said.

"Thanks." Santana left the room and made her way upstairs to the bathroom. Locking the door behind her, she allowed her back to fall back and press against it and sighed, closing her eyes. She needed a minute to compose herself – alone – and plan what she was going to say.

"_Hey, Brittany. Sorry I've been so mean to you since we first met, but I kind of have feelings for you and I'm scared about people finding out I'm gay_," she mused aloud.

Sighing again, she ran a hand through her hair and tried again. "_I have something that I need to tell...talk to you about..." _

_"I need to tell you something...the reason why I've been such a bitch to you..." _

"_I think I have feelings...for you...because I'm..."_ Santana tapped her head back against the door lightly, frustrated with herself. Why was it so hard to be fluent when it really mattered?

"Stop being such a coward," she told herself aloud. "It's really not that big a deal. You can tell her. It's easy. Just tell her." She gave herself a minute to compose herself and then walked over to flush the toilet as a cover up. She washed the sweat from her clammy hands and opened the bathroom door. "You can do this," she whispered.

Santana never soliloquized; if ever she felt the need to speak to herself seriously, she usually kept her thoughts inside her head in case anybody overheard. So she didn't know what was different now. Maybe she supposed a change in tactic would actually help her to listen to herself. Maybe it was because it felt like, instead of _herself_ trying to convince her to do something, it felt like another person was convincing her. And then maybe she would listen.

Why does anyone soliloquize? _Why would anyone talk to themselves anyway?_

She made her way silently down the stairs and through the hallway. As she walked through the doorway into the living room, Brittany glanced up at her and gave a small smile. Santana took a seat beside her and locked her fingers together nervously.

"Brittany," she began. "I-"

Santana was cut off by the sounding of Brittany's phone. The blonde looked at the phone, then back to her. She opened her mouth, but didn't know what to say.

"Do you want to answer that?" asked Santana, halting her confession for a moment longer.

"Sorry," Brittany apologized. She picked up her phone and checked the caller ID. "It's my mom. I'd better answer it." Holding the phone to her ear, she stood up and slowly drifted around the room. "Hi, mom...Yeah, I got here a half hour ago...No, I think she stayed after school...Yeah, I'm safe, why?...What? Where?...Who's house?...Okay, what do you want me to do? Is it being dealt with?...Yeah, I promise I'm safe, mom...Yeah, I'm pretty sure she's still at school right now...Okay, I'll phone her now...I'll see you later, bye."

By now, Santana had stood up and was looking at Brittany curiously as she turned around. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"There's been, um," Brittany said. "The Harris' have had a break-in."

Santana furrowed her brow. "Who are the Harris'?"

Brittany pointed. "They live down the street from us...well, and you."

"Oh. Was it serious?"

"I don't think so. But my mom just...worries, you know," Brittany smiled.

Santana wondered aloud, "How does your mom even know about it yet?"

"Oh, um, Mrs Harris' wife is good friends with my mom at work." Santana nodded. "I'm sorry. I have to call my sister to make sure she's okay. Um, what was it that you were saying?"

Santana hesitated for a moment, and then shook her head. "It's nothing."

"Are you sure. I mean, you seemed pretty, um, serious," the blonde observed.

Santana shook her head again. "No, I didn't," she said defensively. "You're busy. I'll leave."

"You don't have to."

"I have to go," Santana said abruptly, and headed for the door. Brittany paced after her through to the hallway.

"Santana, wait. Don't you want to rehearse the presentation?"

"No," Brittany heard faintly, just before the door closed shut loudly.

* * *

Brittany made her way to her first class the next morning; History. She knew History meant Santana, and Santana just gave her confusion. The brunette definitely hadn't seemed herself the day before - well, what Brittany had perceived her to be in the time she had known her. She had seemed shy and had noticeably lost her confidence; she had seemed as though she were nervous about something. But what was she nervous about? And what had she wanted to say to Brittany before she left in such a haste?

Taking her seat, Brittany pulled out her _Victorious_ notebook and a pen. Whenever she had something on her mind, she would always write about it in her notebook. Over the past week - after meeting Santana - she had added more entries than in the past year. She just hoped nobody saw them.

Since she was almost ten minutes early to class, she spent her spare time doodling Lord Tubbington in her notepad, waiting for everyone to arrive. After a few minutes, she felt the presence of somebody beside her and looked up.

"Um, hi," she said quietly, not quite knowing how she should act around the girl seated next to her.

Santana looked across at her with an expressionless face. "Why are you talking to me?" she asked with no emotion.

Brittany furrowed her brow and turned away from the girl. "Sorry," she mumbled, confused. Closing her notebook up before Santana saw what was written beside the doodle of her cat, she packed it into her bag and sat waiting for the teacher. "I have the project," she said, keeping her gaze forward. "It's on my memory stick.

Santana said nothing.

As Brittany glanced sideways briefly, she noticed that the only reaction she gave was lowering her head.

And said nothing else for the entire lesson.

The bell sounded and everybody packed up their things as the teacher dismissed them. Brittany shovelled her books into her bag and left swiftly to go and find Sam. Whatever was going on with Santana, she didn't particularly want to be on the receiving end of it.

Santana watched her go and sighed sadly. She hadn't meant to behave so coldly to the blonde, but she couldn't help feeling defensive. She packed up her things and headed for the door, but something caught her eye and she turned back around. Lying on the floor beside her desk was a notebook with a picture of _Victoria Justice_ on the cover. Santana picked it up.

_Wasn't this the one that Brittany was doodling in?_

Hesitating, she opened it up to the first page, which read: _'Property of Brittany Susan Pierce'_ in artistic bubble writing. There was something about knowing Brittany's middle name that made her tummy tingle, but there was also the feeling of guilt that she was looking at her personal, private possession without her permission. She reckoned that she wouldn't be in time to catch Brittany along the corridor, and she had no idea where the girl was going to. Should she leave it or keep hold of it?

Santana stored the pad in her bag and left the classroom. She looked down the corridor but, as she thought, Brittany was out of sight.

* * *

Lunchtime came around quickly and Santana made her way to the canteen, taking a seat alone in the corner of the room. Since she had picked up Brittany's notebook after first period, she hadn't been able to get it off her mind. Curiosity was getting the better of her as she pulled it out of her bag and placed it on the table.

She couldn't read it, surely. That wouldn't be right. It would be like somebody rifling through all of her personal thoughts that she never wants anyone to know about. But she couldn't help wanting to know what was written in the pad.

She opened the notepad to the first page once again and studied the bubble writing for a moment. Maybe she could just have a quick peek. Turning over the page, she read the first sentence of the first entry Brittany had written in the pad. It was about the first time she met Sam at McKinley:

_After months of teasing and bullying for being a nerd, today I finally found someone who was just as nerdy as me. We bonded over our obsessive love of science fiction. It's like he was the Clyde Langer to my Rani Chandra. And I know we're going to be awesome friends from now on... _

She flicked through a few more pages:

_I'm worried about Lord Tubbington. Yesterday I found a pimple on his... _

The page turned over acceleratedly. Santana skipped the next few pages until she reached a recent entry dated last Monday. She began reading through the page, feeling guilty but also curious at the same time.

_There's this girl called Santana who moved in across the street. She's...beautiful. I saw her across the street in her underwear, and she saw me too. I didn't mean for her to catch me staring at her bra, but once I saw her I just couldn't look away. She was just...beautiful. I haven't even met her yet, but I think I like her... _

Santana stopped reading. _So that was what she was thinking that night?_ Turning over the next few pages, she read the first paragraph of another entry:

_I'm so confused with what's going on in Santana's head right now. Ever since she spoke to me, she has done nothing but insult me. So what has changed? Why is she being, well, nice? I'm not complaining, but it's just weird. I still really like her, I can't help myself. _

_So, she does like me?_ Santana said to herself. _She does like me._

Santana suddenly became conscious of the fact that she was snooping through Brittany's private notebook, the key word being '_private_'. She shouldn't be reading Brittany's private thoughts, especially the ones about her. She snapped the notebook shut and stuffed it into her bag, standing from her seat. But it wasn't enough to rid of her guilt.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen**

Santana sat in her last lesson, feeling the eyes of a certain blonde on the back of her head. She couldn't concentrate on the presentations going on in front of her. Her thoughts were limited and her brain was allowing her to only think solicitously about the fact that Brittany was seated only a few seats behind her and could see - if she was looking - every single thing she did. And it made her nervous. She didn't like being watched, and especially not in this sort of situation.

So, now she knew that Brittany liked her. Like, _like-_liked her. How was that supposed to make her feel? Happy that her feelings were mutual? She wasn't happy; she was angry with herself, and disappointed in herself, and regretted every single thing she had said and done to Brittany since she first saw her beautiful face.

The time passed quickly, as did the presentations. But soon enough it was their turn to present in front of the class. And Santana just wasn't in the mood for all of the attention. As soon as the two of them stood up at the front of the room, a boy at the back of the class - who was slouched in his seat and looked as though he had taken something he shouldn't have - pointed at the two of them and said childishly, "Ha ha, those are the girls who are dating!"

Almost every face in the room turned to him with expressions of irritation. One girl frowned at him and told him to shut up. "You're such an idiot," she said.

The boy smiled.

The girl scrunched up her nose and scowled at him. "Are you high again, Brett?"

The teacher interrupted, finally acknowledging the disruption. "Okay. Cathy, Brett. Thank you, that's enough." Brett simply grinned and the girl named Cathy rolled her eyes at him. "Please begin, girls," she said to Brittany and Santana.

Brittany set up the presentation and nervously fiddled with her fingers as she looked around the class. She hated the attention; she hated people staring at her for any sort of reason; and she hated public speaking. She glanced across at Santana, who looked - to her - more irritated and bored anything else. But the girl seemed to sense her own discomfort and began speaking first.

"We're doing our presentation on relationships," she said. Brett snorted.

They began to take it in turns to speak their parts on each slide. The whole thing seemed very awkward for the both of them, but nobody else in the class seemed to notice the tension between the two of them. Thankfully it only lasted a few minutes and was soon over. Brittany looked over at the teacher and gave a shy smile.

"Thank you, girls. That was excellent," said the teacher. Looking down at her sheets of important-looking paper, she carried on, "Well, judging by the marking criteria I have here I would say you both receive a very sturdy B for your project. Would you like to take a seat– "

"Actually, Miss," Santana said unexpectedly. She even surprised herself. Glancing over at Brittany for a second - who furrowed her brow - she continued. "I have something else to add."

"Oh." The teacher looked slightly taken aback. "Okay. Go ahead, Santana."

Santana suddenly became nervous. She gulped hard in attempt to swallow her nerves and breathed in. "Well," she said. "I think there was one little thing that we forgot to talk about that actually has a lot of relevance to ... our project." She took another look at Brittany. "First impressions." Brittany dropped her eyes as she listened to Santana speaking. "I think that it's important in any kind of new relationship to make a good first impression. But sometimes we don't. We don't know why, but we just don't, and then end up regretting being a total bitc-" She looked sideways at her teacher - who was giving her a look - and moderated her language. "...being...inappropriately nasty to new people that we meet. I'm sure we've all had first impressions that didn't go too well because of some unpreventable reason, but sometimes we can prevent our behaviour, but just don't. I just wish we would."

Everyone in the class was staring at her, which under normal circumstances would have made her incredibly uncomfortable. But, for whatever reason, she just didn't let it bother her. She looked over at the teacher. "That's it," she said.

Her teacher nodded. "Thank you, Santana. That was a very mature outlook that you shared with us." And she began writing something down. Santana and Brittany took their seats. As Santana packed something into her bag, she turned her head and caught Brittany's eye, but swiftly turned away.

She was the first to leave the classroom as the bell sounded. Even if Brittany tried to catch up with her, she had no idea where the girl was disappearing to. Brittany left the room and met Sam by the main entrance. She walked out of the gates with him, stopping by the road.

Sam turned to her. "So, how was the presentation with Santana?"

"Oh yeah," Brittany said. "It was fine."

"No more uncalled for slushie facial attacks then?" he grinned.

"Sam, can we just drop the slushie now," Brittany partly asked, partly snapped, feeling immediately guilty.

Sam frowned. "Britt, I was kidding."

Brittany looked apologetically at him. "I know. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get mad."

"Don't be sorry." With a concerned look, he asked, "Is something wrong?" Brittany shook her head. "Are you sure?"

Brittany nodded and smiled at him. "Yeah. It's nothing."

"Okay."

Brittany loved how well Sam knew her. He never pushed her to talk about something she didn't want to. If he noticed something was bothering her he would ask, but he would accept the answer that he was given in return - even if it was telling him subtly - or not so subtly - to drop the conversation.

As Brittany looked up at Sam, she noticed him smirking slightly. "What?" she asked, confused by his random amusement.

Sam giggled childishly. "You said _can we drop the slushie_. It just sounded funny."

Rolling her eyes, Brittany poked him in the bicep and sighed, "You're so grown-up, aren't you?"

Sam gave a cheeky grin. But Brittany's attention turned to something else in the distance. A smirk spread itself across her own face as she saw who was walking towards them behind Sam.

"What are you smiling at?" Sam asked.

"You'll find out," she giggled in return, before stepping to the side and calling over Sam's shoulder, "Hey, Mike." Watching Sam's reaction, Brittany smiled widely and looked down at the ground.

Sam turned around. "Oh," he said shyly. "Hello."

"Hi," greeted Mike, smiling and gripping his bag strap. "How are you?" he asked, equally as shyly as Sam.

"I'm good. I'm great, thanks. And you?" Sam asked.

Mike nodded. "Yeah, I'm good too," he said. He looked across at Brittany, waved and smiled. Trying to keep her amusement as hidden as she could, Brittany returned a sweet smile.

"So, um," Mike said, slightly pivoting on the spot. "What are you up to?"

"_Now_? Um...nothing. I was just heading home," Sam answered.

Mike nodded. "Oh, cool." His eyes dropped for a moment and he shifted sheepishly. "Well, I was just wondering if you wanted to do something? ..._with me_?"

Smiling to himself, Sam looked down briefly and scraped his feet on the gravel. He looked up into Mike's eyes and replied to his question. "Yeah. Yes, I would like to do that."

"Awesome. Well," Mike pondered. "I don't know if you're interested but, you know, the new _Iron Man _movie is playing today...if you wanted to go and see it.

"I love Iron Man," Sam smiled.

"Great!" Mike said happily. "Unless you two were planning on watching it together?" he asked, looking between him and Brittany.

Sam looked over at Brittany. The blonde shook her head. "I don't like _Iron Man_," she said. Sam tilted his head at her, nonplussed. She looked directly at him and said, "You two go together." Looking over at Mike, she carried on, "I'm sure he'd appreciate your company more than mine."

The two of them blushed, and Brittany just giggled to herself. Of course Brittany was lying about not being into _Iron Man_. Who wouldn't love a movie starring Gwyneth Paltrow? But Sam knew she was backing off on purpose to make way for Mike, and he loved her for that.

He turned back to Mike. "I would love to go watch _Iron Man_ with you," he said.

"Awesome."

"I guess I'll talk to you later, Britt," Sam said.

Brittany nodded. "Yeah. See you two later," she smiled.

"Bye, Brittany," Mike waved.

Just as Sam and Mike turned to walk away, Brittany called out to them suddenly, "So, are you guys dating now?" with an amused smile upon her face.

They both turned around; Mike blushed, and Sam gave her an incredibly evil glare. But before he left, he mouthed over to her '_Thank you'_. Waving them off, the blonde watched the two boys walk away together. She couldn't help but smirk after the two of them. They were just too damn cute and shy around each other.

She just wished she couldn't have something like that.

* * *

Brittany rifled through her bag as she sat in her bedroom listening to music. She pulled out her homework planner, took a quick look at it and tossed it aside, mumbling "_that can wait_" to herself. Pushing the objects in her bag aside, she frowned to herself. There was something missing. She tipped out the contents of her bag onto her bed and searched for her notebook, with no luck.

Jumping off of her bed, she walked out onto the landing popped her head through her sister's bedroom door. "Jamie?"

"What do you want?" she asked, without looking up from her computer screen.

"Have you seen my notebook?"

"What notebook? You have loads of notebooks," Jamie mumbled.

Brittany sighed. "Never mind." She made her way down stairs and into the living room, where her parents were watching television together.

"You okay, sweetie?" asked her mother.

Brittany nodded. "Have you seen my notebook?" she asked.

"Which notebook?" said her dad. "You have a lot of notebooks."

Brittany rolled her eyes again at the repetition. "My special notebook. The one with Tori Vega on the cover."

They both shrugged. "I haven't seen it," said Mrs Pierce. "Did you leave it at school or something?"

The blonde girl's eyes widened. "I hope not. Never mind," she smiled.

As she made her way back to her room, she allowed her brain to scan over the last time she remembered having it. She definitely had it the night before and definitely packed it into her school bag the morning after. So she must have lost it at school...

_History. _

The last time she wrote in it was during History. Under normal circumstances, she wouldn't be too bothered about somebody finding it and seeing all of her doodles, but the problem was that the notebook wasn't only filled with doodles. And anyone could be reading the personal things she had written in it. She didn't exactly have many friends or even people who liked her, so if anybody did find it and read it, why would they bother keeping it to themselves? It's not like anyone at McKinley really gave a damn about her.

Instead of fretting over what may or may not be, she pushed it out of her mind for now. It was something that could be dealt with in the morning she supposed. That is, if anybody actually picked it up at all.

* * *

"_Brittany_?"

Strolling down the corridor towards her locker, Brittany turned at the call of her name and smiled on seeing who was stood behind her. "Hi, Mike," she greeted. "How was the movie with Sam last night?"

Grinning sweetly, Mike responded, "It was awesome. We had a great time. You should have come with us. We should pick a movie you like next time."

Brittany smiled. "Yeah."

"Speaking of Sam, I was wondering if you've seen him this morning?" Mike asked.

"I haven't," she answered. "Is there a problem?"

"No. Not at all. I just, um, you know...wanted to see him." Mike blushed. And Brittany almost died at the cuteness.

"You two are so adorable."

"We are? Oh...thanks." He blushed even more. "I...really like him," he admitted.

Brittany nodded. "I know. He really likes you too."

"Really? How do you know?"

"He's my best friend. It's totally obvious to me by now. And he talks about you all the time, so that's a big giveaway." Mike raised his eyebrows. "Seriously," she added.

Smiling bashfully, Mike rubbed his palm over his warm cheek. "I never knew that."

"So I suppose that was kind of your second date." Brittany teased.

"Um, Brittany?"

"What's wrong?" Brittany furrowed her brow at Mike's change of subject. At first she assumed he was only preventing from answering the question concerning Sam, but she noticed his gaze was no longer fixed on just her face. "Sorry, I was only kidding."

"No. It's not that." Mike said quietly. "You have company." He nodded subtly over the blonde's shoulder. Brittany turned around and saw Santana walking towards her. She turned back to Mike, who gave her a concerned look. "Do you want me to leave?"

"No. Well, I mean, if you want to then do, but I won't force you to leave. It's up to you, I won't mind either way," Brittany said complicatedly.

"I think I'll leave you two alone and go and find Sam if that's alright. Are you gonna be okay? I'd feel awful if I left and she slammed you against the lockers again."

"I'm sure I'll be fine. Thanks Mike. I'll see you later," Brittany smiled. "See you later."

Mike said goodbye and left Brittany, who turned around just in time to come face to face with a pair of bistre irises just a few feet from her. Santana said nothing and simply pulled something out of her bag. She handed it to Brittany.

"I didn't read it, I swear. You dropped it after History and I found it. But I didn't look inside it. I promise." And with that, she walked away without another word; without giving Brittany the chance to think up a reply. The girl merely stared after Santana as she walked away, as if she were unaffected, still holding the notebook out in front of her.

Throughout the course of the day, her classes passed relatively quickly and it soon came to lunchtime. Sam, Mike and she were sat around at table in the cafeteria deep into conversation - conversation meaning Brittany embarrassing her friends from across the table by telling them how _couply_ they looked, and that she could actually see them trying to hide the fact that they were holding hands underneath the table.

Mike decided to change the subject to her love life. "So what about you, Brittany?" he said. "Is there anyone you've got your eye on?"

Brittany looked up at him from her lunch. She felt very awkward about the question. What was she supposed to say? _Yes, there is someone actually. She's called Santana Lopez, you may know her. But I kind of haven't told anyone about it because she's kind of a bitch to me and I don't think anyone would really approve. Speaking of which, I don't even know why I'm into her anyway considering the first thing she said to me was delivered with the pure intention of showing me how much of a loser I am._

She shook her head. "Nope. Nobody."

Mike smiled. "Oh, come on. There must be somebody who's at least made you double-take in the corridor," he teased.

Sam answered for her before she was given the chance. "She's too obsessed with her celebrity crushes to pay any attention," he said jokingly.

Mike giggled. "Is that right?"

"No," defended Brittany. "It's not."

"It so is!" Sam disagreed. Brittany shook her head, although a little part of her knew there was truth in what her friend was saying. Sam folded his arms. "I think that fifty inch poster of Jenna Louise Coleman says otherwise."

Brittany protested, "That does not count! It's a poster of the Doctor and Clara. And besides, I can't help the fact that she is extremely attractive and awesome. And it would be rude of me to ignore that."

"Doesn't mean you have to keep a shrine in your closet."

Grinning unintentionally, Brittany huffed at him. "It's not like you can pretend you don't have one of David Tennant in your closet," she bit back.

"I...well...you...shut up," he stuttered, lowering his head on shame. He looked up at Mike and said jokingly, "Don't judge me."

Mike laughed and turned back to Brittany. "So does that mean there is someone?"

Brittany stayed silent for a moment, and then shook her head.

"You hesitated! There so is someone!" Sam said, pointing at her like a detective. "Who is it?"

"No one, I told you."

Sam and Mike looked at each disbelievingly before looking around the cafeteria. Sam caught sight of someone in the lunch queue and leaned across the table, lowering his voice to a whisper. "It's Quinn Fabray, isn't it?"

Brittany sighed. "Sam..."

"So it is?" he pushed, grinning.

"No, I do not have a crush on ... Quinn Fabray."

As Mike joined Sam, leaning across the table beside him, he whispered to Brittany, smiling to himself, "Is it Rachel Berry?"

Brittany frowned. "You're just as bad as him," Brittany groaned.

"Just tell us who it is, Britt. We promise not to judge you," Sam said. "Well, maybe unless it's someone like..._Santana Lopez_ or someone," he laughed.

Brittany replied rather too quickly. "Sam, I told you before, I do not have a crush on anyone. Just because you two are all loved up doesn't mean I have to be too."

Sam and Mike sat backwards into their seats and blushed as they glanced at each other. Staring down at her lunch, Brittany let out a soft sigh and brought up a hand to rest her cheek on. _Unless it's someone like Santana Lopez? _

Why did it have to be Santana Lopez?


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen**

Why had it taken her this long for her brain to click into place? Now that she thought back, it was obvious. Santana was lying. She had denied reading her notebook _twice_ in one sentence, and quite profusely each time. But what parts had she read exactly? Did she know how Brittany felt about her? How could she tell? It's not as though she could figure it out through the girl's body language, seeing as she was acting no different from the way she had been acting around her for the past few days anyway.

The only thing that she noticed was different about Santana was the way she was consistently looking around at her while playing basketball during gym, as if she were feeling paranoid about something. She looked shifty; _uncomfortable_.

Brittany was only glad that the girls' changing rooms curved around into two separate areas. That way, she could change at the opposite end to Santana and wouldn't feel extremely awkward or even be tempted to peek at her whilst she was changing.

As they played a whole-class game of basketball, she kept her distance from the actual game-playing. The girls in her class could get very competitive, sometimes even vicious. And if there was one thing she had learned throughout the course of her gym classes, it was not to stand in the way of an antagonistic girl running down the gym with a hard rubber ball in her hands. So she stood wherever there was a space. Nobody ever threw to her anyway so she figured she was safe.

But on the other team, across the pitch from her stood Santana, looking as though she had taken up the complete same tactic as she. She looked at Brittany briefly, and then pretended to be paying attention to the game.

During the next ten minutes or so, the ball had wondered passed her a couple of times, followed by the raging bundle of girls scrambled to get to it before the other. But within those ten minutes, Brittany hadn't realised that Santana had disappeared from her spot across the pitch and had repositioned herself only a few meters from her. It caught her by surprise.

Santana made up the extra distance and looked at Brittany. "I have to talk to you about something," she said quietly.

Brittany wasn't sure quite how to reply to her so simply nodded in response.

"It's about your notebook," Santana said. "I...um, I kind of..." she trailed off as her attention seemed to catch onto something else. "Brittany, watch out!"

Before the blonde could react, she was knocked off of her feet by a blow to the head by a giant orange rubber blur. She let out two yelps of pain - one as the ball hit her head and another as her body collided with the gym floor.

The ever-fading tapping of the ball was obscured by the stampede of feet that were making their way towards her. She felt the presence of somebody beside her, presuming it was the teacher, but then heard the voice of the teacher from a distance making its way closer. A hand softly brushed where the ball had hit her. When she opened her eyes for a second and looked up at who it belonged to, she found Santana hovering over her with her palm resting on her temple.

Her eyes fluttered closed again.

She was soon replaced by the gym teacher who crouched beside the blonde. "Are you okay, Brittany?"

The girl's head was throbbing through her ears, pulses of pain shocking her brain at every single beat her pulse made. The ball had hit the most fragile part of her temple just above her ear, which had left a constant playback of the sound that the basketball made as it bounced off of her head echoing in her ear.

"Brittany, can you hear my voice?" asked the teacher. She rolled Brittany as gently as she could onto her back. "Could someone fetch the nurse, please?" she requested.

Brittany forced her eyes open once again and faintly caught the faces of everyone in her class circled above her and looking down at her. She noticed that everyone was there apart from Santana. She looked across to where she had last seen her, but instead found that - as the voice had informed her - her teacher had replaced her. "Brittany," she said. "Nod if you can hear me."

Her voice was muffled by the beating and ringing in her ear, but she nodded slowly in response.

"Where did the ball hit your head?" asked her teacher.

Brittany drowsily lifted her hand and pointed to her temple, before dropping it heavily back onto the floor. Her eyelids were becoming heavy and her head was aching more and more, making her want to fall asleep. "Brittany, can you stay awake for me, now," came her teacher's voice, but Brittany had already closed her eyes again. The last thing she heard was from one of the girls in her class, although she wasn't sure quite who had said it.

"I think she's unconscious."

* * *

The girl watched from across the room beside the nurse as Brittany opened her eyes slowly and blinked a few times. Nudging the nurse, she informed her that Brittany was waking up. The nurse walked over and stood by her bed.

"Hello, Brittany," she smiled, portraying herself as friendly. "Are you okay?"

Brittany frowned and scrunched up her face, releasing a little groan of pain. "My head hurts."

The nurse pulled out an ice pack from the freezer next to the bed and placed it on Brittany's wound, causing her to quietly gasp at the cold shock. "I'm sure it does, sweetheart. This should help, just keep this pressed against it and it'll feel better in no time." Brittany took the ice pack from the nurse's hand and dabbed it on her head. "I'll leave you to rest. I've called your parents and your father is on his way to pick you up."

As she made her way back over to the door where the girl was stood, she was stopped in her tracks. The girl asked her, "Would it be okay if I stayed for just a few minutes?"

The nurse looked hesitant. "I know you are her friend but do you not have class?" She looked down at the kit Santana was wearing.

"I'm in the same class as Brittany," said the girl. "The teacher excused me."

After a moment of pondering, the nurse nodded. "Okay then," she smiled warmly. "I'll be right out here so just shout if there is a problem."

"Thank you."

The girl walked slowly over to the bed and perched on the stool beside it. Brittany was looking out of a small window to the other side of her, so the girl said her name softly to get her attention. She looked around at the girl.

"Santana?"

"How are you feeling?"

"Like I've been hit in the head with a basketball," replied Brittany, in all seriousness. But Santana grinned, and soon so did she.

"Good to know your memory's not gone bust." Watching Brittany struggle to keep the ice pack on her head, Santana indicated with a nod of her head and offered, "Would you like me to do that?"

"You don't have to," Brittany said.

But Santana insisted, "I want to." She held up her hand and Brittany allowed her to take the ice pack. She rested her arm back onto the bed beside her as Santana pressed the pack softly to the side of her forehead. And Brittany had to admit that she actually preferred this than doing it for herself, and not only because it was an awkward angle for her to reach.

"Is that okay?" Santana asked gently.

Brittany nodded.

After a moment of something that should have been very awkward after the week that had passed, but was actually rather enjoyable for both of them, Brittany spoke up. "Aren't you supposed to be in class? How did you get excused?"

"She said a friend was allowed to come with you for support," Santana said.

Brittany crooked her head. "Are we friends?" she asked, confused. Santana pulled away her hand and looked down abruptly without an answer.

So Brittany thought up another question, "Can I ask you something?" Santana nodded. "Did you run to get the nurse?" Santana remained silent for a moment. Brittany continued, "When I opened my eyes the first time I saw you there. And you were...sitting by my side. But when I looked the second time you were gone."

Santana looked into her eyes briefly and answered the question. "Yeah, I did."

"Why?"

Santana furrowed her brow. _"Why?"_ she mirrored, puzzled.

"I thought you hated me," Brittany said simply, looking down at her toes at the end of the bed. She was still dressed in her kit, with the exclusion of her trainers.

Santana sighed softly and looked directly at Brittany. "Of course I don't," she said. "I told you that."

"But you didn't tell me why you've been so mean to me since you got here."

"I know," Santana said quietly. And this was her moment. No interruptions - no break-ins down the street; no cowarding out. This was the moment. "Brittany..." Her voice was quiet and fragile and the blonde noticed and looked up at her. "I'm sorry. For being such a bitch. And I have a confession to make." Brittany nodded and sat up slightly on the bed. "I read some of your notebook," she admitted. "I said I didn't, but I was lying. And I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Brittany said. "I know you did."

"You knew I was lying?"

Nodding, she explained, "I knew that if you hadn't read it you wouldn't have denied reading it the way that you did. You kind of gave it away," she smiled.

"Oh."

"I guess you, um...know how I feel about you now," Brittany said, half question-like, half already knowing what the reply would be.

"I, um..." Santana dropped her eyes. "Yeah. But I have something else that I need to tell you." Brittany nodded again, intrigued as to what her next confession was going to be. "You see, Miss Holliday told me I need to be more honest with people. And myself," she explained, recalling her little talk with Holly. "And more honest with you."

"Miss _Holliday_?" Brittany questioned. "The new substitute? The one who looks a bit like Gwyneth Paltrow?"

Santana grinned. "That's her." Taking a broad breath, she continued. "So, here it is. Me being honest about myself."

As she paused for a moment, Brittany took the time to study her face. Her compact lips, frozen in anticipation of what was yet to pass them, suddenly opened as the girl took in a breath. Brittany's eyes trailed up to Santana's, as big and bold and brown as midnight, and they flicked up to gaze into hers.

"Back at my old school was when I realised that I was...into girls," Santana said bravely. "No one knew about _me_, but the things they would say...they just hurt. They made me lock myself away. And they made me feel mad about the world. And then I came here, and I saw what all the kids were like. And they were no different. But then there was you," she said, making eye contact with Brittany. "And you just...didn't care what they thought about you, or said, or did. And, honestly, I envied the way you just rose above their ignorance."

Brittany smiled. They way Santana was talking about her made her feel good. It made her think about something that had never really crossed her mind before now.

"But I acted hostile towards you because of the way you were maki– the way I was starting to feel about you. I was...taking all of my animosity towards the world out on you. Because, at the time, the way I saw it...you were the one making me feel something that labelled me an outcast. And so I blamed you, like it was your fault. And I'm sorry." Santana sniffed, suddenly feeling her eyes burn a little. "I'm just _so_...sorry, Brittany." She dropped her head and silently drew out a breath. "_I'm sorry."_

Brittany pushed herself up on the bed and lifted a hand. It hovered just in front of her, unsure of whether to return to its spot on the bed or comfort the girl in front of her. It opted for the latter. She softly placed her hand on Santana's knee in the most inspiriting way she could and said gently, "Please don't cry."

Santana looked up at her, momentarily taking a glance at the hand on her leg. She smiled ever so lightly. "I'm not," she replied.

Brittany glimpsed at her own hand, and Santana's eyes followed. And then the brunette did something neither of them would have expected. She placed her free hand on top of Brittany's.

Meeting Santana's eyes again, Brittany said to her, "It's okay."

Santana shook her head. "It's not," she disagreed. "It can't just be okay." Shaking her head again, but slower this time, she sighed sadly. "I just wish...I wasn't such a bitch to you. I wish I could go back and, _maybe_...we could have been friends. But I messed up. I wish I could start over, and do it right this time."

A silence settled between the two of them. Everything was still; everything other than Santana's thumb which was inattentively caressing the hand beneath hers.

Neither one of them expected the nurse to suddenly pop up and jumped as she entered, Brittany's reflexes causing her to pull back her hand. The nurse smiled. "I'm sorry. Did I sneak up on you?" She walked over to pick something up from the other side of the room. Looking at Brittany, she commented, "I'll suppose your reflexes are sharp as a button now."

Brittany smiled.

"Anyway," the nurse said, heading for the door again. "I have a boy with chicken pox that I need to get back to." As she made to leave, she spotted the ice pack that was now in Santana's hand and gave one last fond smile.

Santana watched her leave and then turned to Brittany and smirked. "Um..." she began. "Well, I guess I had better go." She stood up.

"You don't have to," Brittany said, secretly wanting her to stay.

"Actually it's almost the end of class," she glanced at the clock, "so I think I had better go and let Miss know you're okay," Santana said. Brittany nodded to show she understood. "And, um..." Santana said quietly. "I'm glad you're okay too."

Grinning widely and blushing at the same time, Brittany looked up at her. "Thanks."

After placing the ice pack silently on the top of the cabinet beside the bed, Santana made for the door, glancing back at Brittany and smiling. But as soon as her foot stepped through the doorway, she stopped in her tracks.

"Wait," said Brittany, and Santana spun around. Swinging her legs over the side of the bed, Brittany stood up and stuck out her hand in front of her. And she said, "_My name is Brittany, nice to meet you_."

Santana's brow furrowed and she tipped her head to the side in question. "What are you doing?"

"Starting again."

"How can we just start again?"

Brittany stepped closer to the girl, continuing to hold out her hand, and replied simply, "Like this."

"But, what about–"

"If you want to start again, who's going to stop us?" Brittany asked.

"Brittany, I can't just forget about everything that I put you through," Santana said. "It wasn't right."

Brittany dropped her arm. "Then we'll just pretend that it didn't happen. And start over."

Santana sighed. "Why are you being like this? I've been nothing but crap to you, and you're just..." She couldn't think of a word good enough to describe her, so she just settled for, "..._you_."

"Honestly – I knew from the first time I saw you that you weren't being the real you," Brittany shrugged. "I could see in your eyes, something wasn't quite right. But I just couldn't figure it out." Brittany looked into those eyes again. And they were different. They weren't as mysterious as they had been the first time she looked into them. They showed kindness, and innocence, and truth.

And it was true. Santana felt her heart beat just that little bit faster. Brittany knew her this well? Had she really been _that _transparent? "But what about your friends?"

"Sam is my best friend – he'll understand. And Mike is just the sweetest. And they're both smart. After all of that stuff that you said, I know they'll see that you're not the person that they thought..._think_ you are. Just like I found out." Brittany took another step closer. "So let's have a clean start." She held her hand back up.

Santana gave her smile and walked across to meet Brittany in the middle of the room. She accepted Brittany's handshake. "Thank you."

"So, maybe I'll see you around," Brittany said, raising her eyebrows.

"Very probably," Santana grinned. "Bye, Brittany."

"Bye," Brittany said. "Hey, I didn't catch your name."

"Lopez," Santana said, impersonating Sean Connery. "_Santana_ Lopez." Walking towards the door, she turned around one last time as Brittany sat back down on the bed. They both shared one last look. And then Santana made her a promise from across the room, "I'll let Sam know what happened."

"Thank you."

Santana subtly saluted, grinned and then left the room, feeling the best she had felt about herself in a very, very long time.

* * *

Sam stood waiting beside the main doors of McKinley High, checking the time on his phone. He wondered if Brittany was staying after school for some reason, but if that were the case then she would have told him; texted him at least. So, maybe she was just late out of class.

He pulled out his phone again and began to type out a message to Brittany, but was interrupted as somebody called his name from behind. He turned around. Instantly taken aback, he furrowed his brow and looked closely at the person in front of him. Were his eyes deceiving him, or was Santana Lopez stood just a meter away from him and _not_ looking as though she wanted to punch his lights out?

"Hi," Santana said.

Sam remained silent, largely due to the fact that he was stunned by her presence, and her actually interacting with him.

"I thought you'd probably want to know that Brittany had to go to the nurse. And her dad is picking her up from school."

Sam opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

"Are you gonna say something?"

"How– how do you know?" he stuttered, totally confused by the entire situation.

"I was in her class. She got hit in the head during basketball. But she was fine, just a small bump and a little bruising."

"And you...took her to the nurse?"

Santana nodded.

Sam frowned. "_You_ took her to the nurse?"

"Yes," Santana said. "_I_ took her to the nurse. If you go now you'll probably catch her."

"Um...okay. Thanks for letting me know," Sam said slowly. "But, how did you know her dad is picking her up? Did you stay with her?"

Santana looked up at him, but then dropped her eyes. "I have to go," she said. She made her way passed Sam, quickly turned back and said, "She didn't have her phone with her, if you're wondering why she didn't text you," before leaving through the front doors.

Sam watched her go, his confusion clear on his face. He stood completely still for a moment, unsure of what to do next. But then he turned on his heel and headed for the nurse's room to find Brittany.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter Sixteen**

**Thank you guys so much for reading and commenting. Enjoy.**

Sam made his way to the nurse's room and only just caught Brittany in time. Her dad was in the room with her, and they were both about to leave as he walked through the door.

"Hello, Sam," said Mr Pierce. Brittany spun around at the sound of his name.

"Sam," she said. "I was about to call you."

Sam rushed forward towards her. "Brittany, your head..." His eyebrows knitted together in concern as be studied the wound on the side of his best friend's temple.

Brittany shook it off. "I'm fine, I promise. It was just a bump."

"But...Santana told me you got hit in the head by a basketball," he said. He was still a little confused by the conversation he had had with Santana, but the look on Brittany's face and the bruise on the side of her head told him that she was telling him the truth.

Brittany furrowed her brow. "Santana told you that?"

Mr Pierce looked at them both curiously. "I know that name," he said, scratching his head.

"She moved in opposite us last week," Brittany reminded him.

She turned back to Sam. "What exactly did she tell you?"

"She passed me by the entrance and just...told me exactly that. And said that she took you to the nurse. Why would she do that?" he asked her.

Brittany stared at him, opening and closing her mouth like a confused fish. She didn't know how to answer his question. "I...I don't know." Swiftly changing the subject, she turned back to her father. "We had better get going." And then back to Sam. "You want a lift home?"

Sam looked at Mr Pierce. "Sure. If that's okay?" Mr Pierce smiled.

"Of course it is, Sam. You know you don't have to ask."

Sam, Brittany and her father made their way to the car and buckled up. On the journey home, the entire car was silent; Mr Pierce soon noticed something was wrong and peered into the rear-view mirror. "Are you two okay? You haven't said a word this whole journey," he said. "You two are usually talking about something or other."

Sam looked across at Brittany. "Yeah, we're fine, Mr P. I think Britt's just a bit tired from her bump to the head. You look tired," he said to her.

"Yeah," agrees Brittany. "I was just phasing out a bit."

Mr Pierce nodded. "Is it hurting badly, sweetie?" he asked his daughter.

"No, it's okay at the moment thanks, Dad. It's just making me a little sleepy."

Another moment passed with nothing but silence, making him feel a little awkward, and so he decided to fill it with conversation. "So, Sam," he said. "How is school?"

"It's good thanks, Mr P," Sam answered. "I'm doing well in all my classes."

"That's good to hear," he smiled. "So, um, Brittany told me about your new _friend_, what was his name..."

Sam's eyes widened and he shot a look at his friend beside him. _"You told him,"_ he mouthed silently to her.

Brittany gave him an apologetic look. _"Sorry,"_ she mouthed back. _"It slipped out."_

"Was it Mark...?"

Sam looked back towards Mr Pierce and corrected him. "Mike."

"Yes," Brittany's father nodded. "Of course it is. Brittany told me he's a nice boy."

"Did she?" Sam smiled, before turning back to Brittany and mouthing to her again. "_Nice boy? What exactly did you tell him?"_

Mr Pierce spoke before she could. "Yes. She says that you both are quite good friends with him now."

Sam relaxed. "Oh. Right. Yeah, we are..._both_."

"Well it's nice to hear that."

Another silence passed, lasting right up until they pulled up outside Sam's house. Sam got out of the car, and Brittany followed, telling her dad, "I'm just going to say bye to Sam."

"No problem."

Brittany circled the car and hopped onto the pavement where Sam was already waiting. "You know, he already knows that you're gay," she pointed out.

"That doesn't mean I want him to know about my love life." He punched his friend in the arm lightly. "Thanks, Britt!"

"He doesn't even know about you two. I just said that he was our friend._ Our_ friend. I didn't say just yours. And it's not like he would think we were both dating him." Brittany defended.

"Well," said Sam. "Does he know about Santana?"

Brittany stared at him widely. "W-what do you mean? What about her?"

"Brittany, don't pretend like you don't know what we're talking about here. You can't hide it, I already know, remember? I even saw it happen."

"W-what are we talking about here?"

"About how she has been bullying you from the moment she arrived at McKinley," Sam said. Brittany's heartbeat calmed. "And now she's suddenly acting all friendly when you get hurt. It's curious."

Although Brittany was relieved that the subject matter of Sam's confrontation hadn't been what she had dreadfully expected, she still shook her head in defence. "She was just helping me."

"Why would she be helping you when she's done nothing but cause all of your hurt this past week?" Sam argued.

"I don't know."

"Then why are you defending her?"

"I'm not," Brittany said. "I'm not defending her. I'm just saying that maybe she has changed, and maybe her helping me was just...her helping me."

"What, so you want to be her friend now because you think that there's the slightest possibility that she might be a good person under all of that mean?" Sam asked. "After everything she's put you through?"

"I didn't say that," Brittany said.

"I think it's just a way of earning your trust so that she can only bring you down even harder."

"Or maybe the reason she helped me was because she actually wanted to help. Nothing else."

Sam raised his voice in frustration. "Stop defending her! Why can't you see what she's trying to do here?"

"Why are you yelling at me? I haven't done anything wrong!" Brittany yelled back at him in contradiction.

"I just..." Sam hushed his voice to normal volume. "I'm sorry. I don't want you to get hurt. I just want to protect you...keep you safe."

Brittany frowned. "Well thanks, but I don't need your protection. You know– I'm not some needful little girl who needs cocoon around her to protect her from every little thing that happens around her. Believe it or not, I _can_ look after myself – just like I did before _you_ came into my life. And I don't recall you being there to _protect_ me then. So just stop acting like you..._own_ me or something."

The moment she had begun to shout at Sam was the moment her heart filled with guilt. So, why hadn't she stopped when she had the chance to spare the damage to their friendship? Now she had really done it, she could see that plain by the look on her best friend's face.

_"Sam..." _

He looked her in the eyes for a moment; his eyes were cold and held hurt that she knew she had caused. And then he walked away without another word. She watched him go, desperate to call him back; to apologize. But she knew right now there was nothing she could say or do that could take back what she had said. Even if her words had come from the anger she was feeling, and not her heart.

She watched him until he disappeared into his house, and then she slipped into the passenger seat of her dad's car.

"Everything okay, Britt?" he asked her. He had noticed a little tension between the two of them after a quick glance, but had looked away out of respect.

Brittany sighed quietly. "Yeah. Nothing that can't resolve itself," she said. "I hope."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Shaking her head, Brittany smiled at her dad. "I just said something stupid that I wish I hadn't, that's all."

"Okay, sweetie," said her father. "Well, he's _Sam_. I'm sure all will be fine in no time."

"I hope so."

* * *

After persuading her mother that her bump on the head wasn't severe enough to miss school, Brittany made her way to school earlier than usual and took the liberty of writing a little '_sorry_' note in Sam's locker. Of course she would apologize to him in person, but she thought that this would be a good place to start, seeing as the last time they had seen and spoken to each other had resulted in an argument.

Opening his locker door – of course she knew the combination of her best friend's locker, even if he was unaware of this – and stuck the note on the inside of the door.

"Breaking into lockers now, are we?"

The voice startled Brittany. There were only a few people hanging around the locker room when she had arrived, and so she hadn't expected anybody to start speaking to her. She turned her head abruptly.

"And I thought I was supposed to be the badass."

Brittany smiled. The brunette girl who stood beside her smiled back.

"Hi," said Brittany.

"Hi," replied Santana. "How's your head?"

"Better than yesterday. I've got a slight headache, but other than that I'm doing _tickety-boo_," she laughed.

_"Tickety-boo?" _asked Santana. "Are you sure that basketball didn't damage the humorous side of your brain?"

Brittany laughed and closed the locker door. "Very funny. Anyway, how do you know this isn't my locker?" she asked, grinning.

"Because," Santana said. "I know that this one..." She pointed to a locker door just a few down from Sam's, "...is your locker."

Brittany smiled. The fact that Santana had memorized her locker position for some reason made her stomach flip. But she acted cool. "You're very observant for someone who made out she hated my guts."

Santana looked down.

"I was kidding. Sorry. _New start_ and all that."

Santana stepped forward. "Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that," she said.

"The locker?" joked Brittany.

Santana smiled at the girl, but then things got serious. "I don't know if I can just forget about the things I said to you...and the things I did..."

"But we already talked about this," Brittany reminded her.

"I know. But it's not as easy as forgive and forget. Not when it's not me that has to forgive you. Does that make sense?"

"Yeah," Brittany nodded understandingly.

"It's not so easy when it's you that has to forgive me. And it's not that easy for me to understand howyou _could_ forgive me for something like this, that I feel terrible about. Something that makes me feel like this terrible...monster. Does that make sense?"

"Yeah. It does," Brittany nodded. "I totally get that. But, think about it from my point of view as the forgiver. If you were in my position, would you want to forgive me?"

"Well, yeah."

"You see? I do forgive you, Santana, because I want to. You're not a terrible monster; you were just scared. I know that. And I know that you're a better person than I thought you were...that you made yourself out to be. And that's the person I forgive. Make sense?" she smiled.

"Yeah. I guess it does."

"So, do you want me to forgive you?" Santana nodded. "So, there's no problem," Brittany said simply. "You want to be forgiven, and I want to forgive you, so I forgive you."

Santana furrowed her brow. "That was really confusing."

"A lot of my logic is. As long as it makes you feel better, then I don't mind how complicated I have to sound," she smiled. "But it's probably why a lot of people don't like me." Before Santana could disagree with her – as she looked as though she was going to do – Brittany stopped her and spoke again. "You don't have to say otherwise. I wasn't saying that for sympathy. It's the truth; a lot of people at this school think that I'm weird for being shy and that I'm nerdy for liking Doctor Who. Which, in fairness, is true. Most people just don't like different."

"Well, they're stupid," Santana said, a little too loudly. She looked around and noticed the few people in the locker room staring at her. "What are you looking at?" she said obnoxiously.

Brittany smiled. "I see you reserved a little bit of your old self for when other kids piss you off."

Santana grinned and japed, "Yeah, you'd better watch yourself, Pierce."

Brittany smiled.

"But, seriously..." Santana began again. "Even if all those people don't like you, for some stupid reason..." She looked directly into the blonde girl's blue eyes. "...I like you."

Brittany felt herself blushing and lowered her head, pushing her glasses up onto her nose.

"So," Santana said, trying to cover up the fact that she was also blushing by rubbing her cheek with her knuckles. "I was going to ask you if you maybe wanted to be...my friend?"

Brittany looked up at her. "Yeah. I would love if we could be friends."

"Great."

"But..."

"But...?"

Brittany sighed. "It's complicated with my friends, especially Sam. To be honest, I get the feeling he's not too fond of you."

Santana shrugged. "That makes sense. I wouldn't blame him."

"I think he just needs a little time to get to know the real you," Brittany admitted. "Speaking of which, he told me that it was you who told him about my accident yesterday."

"Yeah. Was I not supposed to?" Santana asked apologetically.

"No, it's not that," Brittany said. "He was just a little confused as to why _you_ would...be helping me."

Santana nodded. "Right."

"We kind of had an argument about it and we haven't spoken since. I don't know if it's serious or just a little disagreement between us, but I did say something stupid that I wish I hadn't. So that–" she pointed to Sam's locker, "–is why I am leaving him a locker note. Not breaking into it," she laughed.

"I'm sorry," Santana said. "I don't want to be the reason you two fall out."

"You're not."

"Still, I think it would be best to keep this secret. I don't really want to be the one to come between you and Sam. I know how much you mean to him. And vice versa."

"You're probably right." Brittany nodded. But there was still a question nagging at her brain that she wanted to ask. "But...is that the only reason you want to keep us secret?"

Santana looked down at her feet. "Um, yes."

"You can tell me the truth." Santana was hesitant. But she told Brittany the truth. "It's not you. Really, it's not, but I'm just not ready for people to know that I'm...gay. And..."

"It's okay," Brittany said honestly. "People around school know that I'm gay and if you start hanging around with me after the rumours then people are going to start..."

"...saying I am too," Santana finished. "Are you mad?"

Brittany kept a completely straight face and said, "Yes, I'm freaking furious."

Santana giggled.

"No, of course I'm not. I understand what it's like to go through this, so I'm not exactly going to force you out of the closet, am I?"

Santana smiled. "Thank you," she said. "You know what? When I first met you, you seemed like this super shy girl who couldn't say a word to anyone without blushing. But, I don't know...I like this new version of you – the girl who shares her awesome brain with people. She's really cool."

Brittany – contradicting Santana's observation – blushed and brushed a strand of hair behind her ear shyly. "Thanks."

"And then she blushes," Santana giggled. "But...this version of you is pretty great too. _The shy girl."_

The two of them smiled at each other. Neither could believe that things had turned out this way. After a rather eventful meeting filled with slushies and insults, they were _friends. _Everything was resolved. Well – not exactly everything. In fact, quite a bit less than everything. But the very first stepping stone to everything becoming resolved was resolved.

"And, on that note, I think I had better go before he sees me," Santana said as she pointed behind Brittany to where Sam and Mike were walking down the corridor towards them, deep in conversation. "See you later."

Brittany said goodbye to the girl before turning around and catching the eyes of Sam and Mike. She received a friendly smile and wave from one, but a quick glance and an even quicker stare at the floor, followed by the silent treatment as they both joined her by the locker.

Mike broke the awkward tension that was making him feel quite uncomfortable. "How are you feeling, Brittany?"

"Huh? Oh. Yeah. I'm fine, thanks Mike. I'm feeling a lot better than I did yesterday."

Her eyes flicked across to Sam, who looked up at her and then looked across at Mike, who sighed. "You two really are like a couple of three year olds. Stop giving each other the awkward glances and make up already," he laughed.

Brittany smiled unintentionally. She opened Sam's locker – to which he looked rather taken aback – and showed him the note on the door.

"I'll leave you two to it," said Mike. "And hopefully see you both at lunchtime." He rubbed Sam's shoulder. "See you later."

Sam pulled the note from the inside of his locker before looking towards Brittany. He gave her a soft smile. "I'm sorry too."

"Thank you," Brittany nodded. "I didn't mean to say what I said..."

"I know, Britt. It's okay," he said softly. "But, I'm sorry for the way I act around you sometimes...overprotective. I want to be there for you, but I shouldn't try to take away your independence like that and I'm sorry."

Brittany pushed the locker door out of the way and stepped forward, closing her hands around his hand. "I like the way that you care for me so much that you want to protect me from bad things. But just not like this," she said, looking down at their hands. "More like this..." She took away one of her hands and allowed the other to hold his hand normally.

Sam smiled, pulling his best friend into a hug and resting his chin on her shoulder.

"I do love you, Sam," Brittany whispered.

Hugging her tightly, Sam replied, "I know you do." As he pulled away, she looked into his eyes and smiled happily. "Let's not fight again. Ever."

"Agreed."

The two of them walked along the corridor slowly as a bundle of students piled through the front entrance. "Sam," said Brittany. "About Santana..."

"Look, Britt, even if I still don't trust her, it doesn't mean I should force my opinion onto you, or stop you from trusting her yourself. If you believe she's a changed girl, then that's your choice and I should respect that."

"You really don't trust her, do you?" Brittany asked.

"No. But who knows? I might be completely wrong," Sam shrugged.

This was going to be tough; Brittany knew that. But she also knew that she would find a way to make this entire situation work. There was always a happy ending to every story. The difficulty was finding out the way to get there.

"Oh, and Britt?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm changing my locker combo..."


	17. Chapter 17

**Sorry I have taken such a long time to update. Here's chapter Seventeen.**

The next day passed quickly and soon it was Saturday morning, resulting in the blonde lazily rolling over in her bed sheets – hands and feet tangled and sticking out everywhere. She let out a drawn out groan of fatigue, rolled over and picked up her phone. She stared at her swirly ceiling. Of course she was irritated that her phone had disturbed her sacred lazy Saturday morning and when she answered it, her irritation got the better of her.

"Why are you calling me?" she mumbled sleepily. She hadn't even checked who it was that was calling her, but luckily for her the person on the other end of the line didn't seem to mind her bad mood.

"Hey, Britt," sang Sam happily. "How are you on this fine Saturday morning?"

"It's seven fifteen. Why are you calling me?" she repeated.

Sam ignored her. "I'm great too, thanks for asking!" he beamed.

"Sam, can I ask you a question?"

"Yuh huh."

"Do you want another spider crawling around in your brain?"

"Technically speaking, the other spider wasn't actually in my-"

"Sam..."

"No, I do not."

"Then why are you calling me at seven fifteen on a Saturday morning?" she asked.

"I'm sorry, were you busy?" Sam asked.

Brittany rolled her eyes. "Kinda."

"Doing what?"

_"Sleeping."_

"Oh. Well, never mind. That can wait. But this can't. I have something that I want to ask you. A favour," Sam said simply.

"What favour?"

"Would you come over to my house?"

"Why?"

"I have to speak to you about something."

Brittany frowned, even though Sam couldn't see her. "So just speak to me now," she suggested.

"I can't, it has to be in person. But I promise it will be worth it," Sam said confidently.

Brittany groaned in frustration. "I do love you, Sam, but you do annoy the crap out of me most of the time."

"And that's why you love me!" Sam beamed.

"Of course it is."

"So is that a yes?" asked Sam.

"Whatever."

"Awesome. Text me when you leave, okay?"

"Fine."

"See you in a bit," Sam smiled.

Brittany mumbled an unmindful response and hung up on her friend. Swiftly getting herself ready, she made her way downstairs and threw on a fluffy coat.

She allowed her brain to drift back to the previous day. It had been a strange day, even though not a lot had happened. But that was in fact the reason why it had been strange. There had been no drama. Brittany had simply spent the day with Sam and Mike, gotten through all of her lessons without any drama at all, and briefly passed Santana in the corridor a couple of times, receiving a subtle smile from the girl.

But, the only downside was that Sam was still giving her looks of distrust everytime he saw her. And since they both attended the same school and were in the same year, it was inevitable that they would pass each other at least twice a day.

Since it was October, it was rather cold. But the cold didn't bother Brittany. And besides, she thought it looked rather pretty out during the autumn.

She looked across at the Lopez household, specifically at Santana's bedroom window. Her curtains were open, but the girl herself was nowhere in sight. That was, until the front door opened below and Santana stepped out dressed in a small puffy coat. Brittany hid behind her own front door and watched her – as she had the week before – walk down her footpath and along the sidewalk, and found herself – as she had the week before – wondering where she was going as she hid behind the front door. In fact, even a part of her was considering following her to see where she was going.

But, she couldn't do that. _Could she?_ She was sure Sam wouldn't mind waiting just a few more minutes, but, she couldn't just begin to follow the girl across the street like a crazy stalker creeper girl because she was _curious_ as to where she was going. _Right?_

Brittany closed her front door and pulled her coat tight around her, watching Santana until she was halfway down the street before heading down the road in the opposite direction to where she needed to be heading; in the direction that Santana was walking.

Passing the cars on the street that could easily hide her if need be, she kept her eyes glued to the girl up in front, watching her every turn. One time, she was almost caught, but dodged being seen by ducking behind a car too quickly for Santana to spot her.

Santana made a turning off of the street and towards the park - a route which Brittany was moderately acquainted with from previous trips there to feed the ducks. She remembered one time Lord Tubbington even came with her; he followed her all the way to the pond and started hissing at all of the ducks.

Brittany stopped on the spot for a moment and pondered. _Maybe I should stop here. What if she sees me and gets mad? We've only just settled our dispute; I don't want to mess things up now._ But despite the logic in her brain telling her to turn back and go to Sam's, the tiny part filled with curiosity overruled it and she carried on following the girl into the park.

Even Santana's route through the park was the same as Brittany's always was, and the blonde was very much wondering if her destination may be the same too. But Santana had only just moved here a couple of weeks back, how did she know about the route to the duck pond?

Brittany didn't know how or why it made any sense, but Santana soon arrived at the exact same spot that she herself always stopped at. Brittany stopped beside a tree not too far away from her that she couldn't see her, but not too close to her that she would be spotted easily. She watched as Santana pulled out a small wrapper out of her coat pocket and picked at it, throwing tiny pieces of what Brittany assumed to be bread into the pond.

Santana smiled as the ducks all circled around one piece of bread and pecked at it impatiently. She threw them more pieces and watched them flap about in the water to be the first to get to it before the others.

At the pond was a peaceful environment, but for some reason something didn't seem quite right. There was something amiss. As though her privacy wasn't so private after all. But she couldn't put her finger on it.

She turned around to look behind her, in the direction that Brittany was stood, and caught a glance of a sudden movement by the trees. Frowning, she turned around fully and took a few steps to the side to attempt at a better look. Brittany, with her back firmly again the trunk of the tree, quieted her breathing and tried her best to hide herself from view. She had no idea whether Santana had seen her or not, but whether she had or whether she hadn't she knew she was about to find out.

A few moments passed, but nothing happened. Brittany had half expected Santana to suddenly appear in front of her, but she didn't. So, creasing her brow, she stepped away from the tree and cautiously glanced around the side of the trunk in the direction of the duck pond. Santana wasn't stood there anymore.

"Are you stalking me?"

Brittany's legs almost collapsed with fright at the unexpected voice behind her and she spun around in shock. "Holy..."

"I believe the word is '_Hello'_," smirked Santana, stood now in front of Brittany with a hand on her hip. "But, whatever you like. '_Holy'_ to you too."

Under normal circumstances, Brittany would have laughed, but the sound in her ears of her throbbing heartbeat was making it difficult to focus on much else other than gripping her chest, breathing unnaturally quickly and staring blankly at the brunette girl for a moment.

Santana giggled. "Did I scare you?" she asked, showing obvious amusement.

"No no," Brittany waved her hand. "I'll be fine. Just a minor heart implosion," she said sarcastically.

"That will teach you not to spy on me then," Santana chuckled.

Brittany protested, "I was not spying! I was..."

"...casually leaning against a tree and watching me from a distance? Like it's just a normal thing to do," Santana suggested. "Like a creepy stalker girl."

Brittany smiled. "How did you even know I was here?"

"You made it kind of obvious, don't you think?" Santana said.

Brittany twitched her mouth and looked down at the ground. "Did I?"

"Yes. You did." Santana giggled. "Well, um," she said. "You're looking better." She pointed towards Brittany's head.

Brittany nodded. "Yeah. It doesn't hurt so much now," she agreed. "So," said Brittany. "What are you doing here?"

Santana pulled out the bread from her pocket. "Feeding the ducks."

"Oh. Just feeding the ducks?"

"It's therapeutic."

Brittany smiled and nodded. "I know. I used to come here all the time."

"You did?"

"Yeah," Brittany nodded again. "It was my special place where I could just...feed the ducks," she laughed. "But, I'm curious..."

"About what?" Santana asked curiously.

"How did you find this place so fast? You've only been here a couple of weeks."

"Exploring," Santana answered. "Back at my old house I used to go to the duck pond all the time to be alone. So, when I came here, I figured _there has to be a duck pond_. And so I did some exploring. And I found it," she shrugged.

Brittany smiled. "That'd really...um...sweet."

"Sweet?" Santana raised her eyebrows. "I'm not sweet. I'm badass," she laughed. "Um, so, do you want to stay...for a bit?"

"I don't want to intrude upon your duck feeding."

"I don't mind you being here," Santana said. "It's, um, you know...nice."

Brittany looked at the time on her phone. "Actually, I promised Sam I would be at his house around about now, so I think I had better go," she said. "But maybe we could, you know, feed the ducks...together...sometime."

"I would like that," Santana smiled. She felt herself blushing slightly and decided to cover it up with a joke. "And I'm sure the ducks would like it too."

"I'm sure they would," Brittany smiled. "Just one more thing..."

"Which is...?"

"Why do you come here so early in the morning?" Brittany asked.

Santana looked down. "Um..." She shuffled her feet on the ground, and then looked up at Brittany through her hair. "It's not something I can honestly say I would be happy about other people knowing about. It's kind of...embarrassing." Then she dropped her eyes again. "That sounds stupid."

"It's sounds totally understandable," Brittany disagreed. "And I totally understand that."

"Oh," Santana smiled. "Well, thanks."

Brittany smiled. "You're welcome. So, I guess probably I'll see you later."

"Okay," Santana nodded. "See you later, Brittany."

* * *

"About time!" greeted an overexcited blond boy as he opened his front door. "What took you so long?"

Brittany stepped inside with a look of pure fear on her face. "More to the point, have you been eating those sherbet lollypops again?"

"What?" Sam pushed the door shut rather loudly. "No. Come on, I have to show you something."

"I thought you had to talk to me about something," Brittany recalled, confused by her friend's behaviour.

"That too. Come on!"

Sam practically dragged his best friend by the coat up the stairs before she had the time to properly take off her shoes. She kicked them off and they fell down the stairs as she was pulled onto the landing and into Sam's bedroom.

"Sam. What is the rush?" she asked, trying to prevent herself from tripping over herself at the loss of control over her balance. Sam closed the door behind them and sat Brittany down on his bed before bringing over his laptop from his bedside table. "My head is fine, thanks for asking." He gave her a thumbs up and put the laptop on her lap and pointed at the screen.

"Since when did you have a Twitter account?" Brittany asked, completely missing the point.

Sam pointed to a particular name on the screen.

"Why are you on David Tennant's account? Is that the only reason you created your own? To stalk David Tennant on Twitter?"

Brittany was still missing the point. Sam pointed to a particular tweet. And Brittany latched on.

"Oh," she said, finally understanding what her best friend was trying to show her. "Is that it? That's the reason you called me over?"

"Well, yeah," Sam said, smiling.

"You woke me up at seven fifteen on a Saturday morning to show me that?" Brittany asked unbelievingly.

"Well. Yeah," Sam said, smiling even wider than before.

Brittany sighed.

"But look at it, though! He retweeted my tweet. He actually retweeted my tweet!"

"Sam," Brittany complained.

"But, seriously though! He now must know who I am and how much of a fan I am of him because he retweeted my tweet!"

"Wait," Brittany said. "So, did somebody retweet your tweet or something?"

"David Tennant retweeted something that belonged to me and your opinion is invalid. And so is your sarcasm," Sam said defensively.

Brittany rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

Taking his computer from Brittany's lap, he turned his head away from her and said, "Fine. If you're going to be like that about it then I know somebody else who will care."

Brittany smiled at her him, amused. "Fine."

"You've been replaced," Sam smiled back, snapping his fingers at her.

"By your boyfriend?" Sam blushed; Brittany smirked in delight. "You see. Don't mess with the Britt-inator!"

Sam frowned at her and shook his head. "No. Just no. Don't ever say the word 'Britt-inator' again. Ever. Please."

"Well then," Brittany said. "Don't ever replace me. Then."

"Well then. Don't ever underestimate the power of David Tennant's Twitter. Then."

"Fine then. I'm so pleased for you and you're new online boyfriend," Brittany rolled her eyes.

"Brittany!"

"What?" Brittany smiled. "Will Mike get jealous?"

"Shut up, Britt," Sam said, blushing a second time.

The blonde held up her hands. "Okay. I'm sorry, Sam. I am pleased for you. Promise."

"Thank you," Sam smiled appreciatively. "And, uh, sorry for kind of ignoring your head injury when you got here. It's looking a lot better today."

"Thank you."

"So, what do you want to do today?" he asked. "I was thinking you and I could meet up with Mike and maybe go to the cinema. To see something you _"like"_ this time."

Brittany hesitated. "Um...I was...actually; I had other plans, if you don't mind."

"Oh. Right. Other plans?"

"Yeah," she said. "It's just that I, um...I have a lot of coursework that I'm behind on and, you know, I really need to catch up."

"Well, you could bring it over if you like and we could stay in instead of-"

"Sam, do you remember the last time I attempted to finish my coursework at your house?" Brittany interrupted.

Sam smiled. "It was hardly my fault that there was a marathon of _Harry Potter_ on the TV that day."

"Well, it was your fault that you decided to put it on and distract me from my work," Brittany smiled back. "Anyway, I think I'm just going to work at home. If you don't mind."

Sam shook his head. "Of course not. I understand," he said. "I can just invite Mike around."

Brittany pulled a face and sighed. "Aw man. Replaced again!"

Sam giggled. "Well, you shouldn't bail on me then!"

"Whatever. It's cool. I'll just find a new best friend to hang around with at school," Brittany shrugged.

"What, like Santana?"

Brittany looked at him and furrowed her brow. "What?"

"I was kidding," Sam said, smiling at her.

Brittany hesitated, but then smiled. She didn't want to look at all suspicious. "Right," she said. "Well, I'm going to head off."

"Oh," Sam said, sounding somewhat disappointed. But he tried his best to hide it. "Now?"

Brittany nodded. "You know...lots of English to revise." She pumped her fist in the air mockingly.

Sam's eyebrows trenched. "I thought you said you had to finish coursework."

"Oh, um...yeah, that too," Brittany said quickly. "See you later, Sam."

"O...Okay. Bye, Britt..."

Brittany left Sam's house and headed down the street towards her own feeling terrible. Sam was not the kind of person that she ever wanted to lie to, or felt the necessity to lie to. She never kept things from him, she never made up scenarios to tell him in place of the truth, and she never lied to him. Sam was her best friend, which made lying to him made her feel all the more guilt-ridden.

She wasn't even sure why she had lied to him. What was her plan in place of spending the day with him? She didn't even know. But it was a spur of the moment thing that just happened to happen because she suddenly thought up the absurd idea of spending the day with Santana.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter Eighteen**

**Just a quick note: I realise I have been focusing too much on Bram in my previous chapters and not enough on Brittana. Sorry guys, I have to admit that I haven't really been investing myself as much as I could have into this fanfic, and I just kind of write Bram into the chapters to fill the spaces instead of actually developing the story. I've been finding it a little difficult to write as of recent and so I've been somewhat neglectful of the story and of Brittana's relationship, but I will try my best to develop it as much as I can. I doubt there will be many more chapters, but thank you for sticking with it and I hope you enjoy this chapter...lots of Brittana, I promise!**

_Just knock on her door. Walk up the path and knock on her door. She's your friend now. So just knock on her door and invite her out._

Taking a deep breath, she began to steadily walk up to the big brown door to the house.

_Walk up the path..._

As she reached the front of the girl's house, she extended her arm and held it just an inch away from the door.

_And knock on the door._

Her knuckles tapped on the wood in three short knocks, and then her arm glued itself back to her side. She blew out a puff of air, and waited for an answer. A moment passed and nobody answered. And she began to panic. _What if she isn't in? What if she's ignoring me? What if she doesn't really want to be my friend? _Deep in her worries about all of the possibilities she could think of to explain why there was no answer, she jumped back as the door unexpectedly opened before her.

"Oh. Hello there. Did I frighten you?" asked a kind-faced blonde lady with a smile on her face.

"No. It's fine. Sorry," the girl stuttered "Um, I was wondering if, um...are you Mrs Pierce?"

The woman nodded. "I am. And you are?"

"I'm Santana. Santana Lopez. I live across the street."

"Oh," Mrs Pierce recalled. "_You're_ Santana? Well, it's lovely to meet you. Your mother has told me all about you."

"Has she?" Santana laughed. "Oh, and it's nice to meet you too, Mrs Pierce," she said smiling. "I was wondering if Brittany might be in."

"She isn't at the moment. I think she went to see Sam," Mrs Pierce said.

"Oh yeah, of course," Santana mumbled. "Okay then. Thank you. I'll be going now."

"Would you like me to give her a message?"

Santana shook her head. "No, I think it's okay. Thanks."

"Not a problem. Well, again, it was nice meeting you," Brittany's mother smiled.

"And you too," Santana smiled. "Bye."

"Goodbye."

Santana stepped back and waited for the door to close before spinning around on her toes and puffing out a large breath. "Right," she whispered to herself. She began to walk down the path and back towards her own house.

"Hello again."

She span around and saw Brittany walking up the opposite side of the street.

"Hi," Santana smiled. "I was just looking for you."

"So I could see," Brittany nodded.

"Yeah. Um..." Santana crossed back over to the other side of the street. "Yeah. I was just wondering...something."

"Oh, right," Brittany smiled. "Well, what was that something that you were wondering?"

Santana smiled too and stuffed her hands into the pockets of her coat. "I was just wondering if you, maybe, wanted to...do...something. With me?"

Brittany's eyebrows rose slightly and her lips parted. "Wait. What?"

Santana shrugged. "I was wondering if you maybe wanted to go back to the duck pond or something."

"Are you serious?" Brittany asked.

Santana nodded, slightly confused by Brittany's response.

"I was going to ask you the same thing," Brittany admitted, a little to excitedly. She blushed at her own overreaction.

"Are you just saying that?" Santana asked.

"No. Of course I'm not," Brittany said honestly. She smiled. "So," she shrugged. "Shall we go to the duck pond?"

Santana smiled. "I would love to go to the duck pond."

The two of them walked the route to the park together, making light conversation on the way. Santana smiled at every joke Brittany slotted into the conversation, and Brittany just smiled generally. She almost couldn't quite believe the way things had worked out between the two of them. But there was still just one thing playing on her mind that she just wasn't sure about. What was this thing between them? They were friends, yes, but they both knew how the other felt. Were they just supposed to ignore that? Or was it all leading up to something more developing between them?

But, before she had the chance to bring up the subject, Santana spoke.

"Brittany?" Santana said. Her tone seemed different from how it had been; more serious; a little more sombre. "I wanted to talk to you about something."

Brittany nodded in response.

Santana took a moment to plan her next sentence, and Brittany watched her face closely. There were those eyes, so deep and filled with mystery. They still gave nothing away to her, but there had been a noticeable change in them in the past week. They were softer, as if a weight had been lifted from the girl. And they were kinder. But right now – to Brittany – they looked a little scared.

"I wanted to ask for your advice," Santana said slowly. "I want to tell my parents."

"Sorry, tell them what?" Brittany asked, oblivious.

"About me," Santana said. "I want to tell them I'm gay."

"Oh." Brittany's eyebrows lifted and she nodded slowly. "Wow. Really? I'm mean, are you sure?"

"I think so," Santana answered cautiously. "I mean, I don't know how they're going to take it but I just...it's who I am and I don't want to hide it from them."

"Wow." Brittany thought for a moment. "This is a big thing."

"Well," Santana shrugged. "It doesn't have to be _that_ big a deal. Does it?"

Brittany shook her head reassuringly. "No. Of course not. Not if you don't want it to be. It's just that..I thought for you it kind of would be."

Santana nodded and twitched her mouth, staring down at her feet and observing every time her shoes scuffed the gravel slightly. "Do you have any advice?" she asked, only just audible to Brittany.

"Advice?"

_Advice_... Brittany had always been the shy and quiet girl; the one who's always in the background; the kid at school who doesn't say much, and is just there. Nobody ever asked Brittany for her opinion on anything – other than Sam. So how was she supposed to give advice on a subject such as this?

This was a subject that Brittany had obviously been through first-hand. She knew how she had felt when she told her parents; the nervous anticipation as she sat them down and told them she needed to speak to them. The actual telling them and then awaiting their responses.

Feeling her heart start beating again when they hugged her and told her they loved her.

_But to give advice?_

"Advice..." she repeated quietly.

"Listen, you don't have to if you don't want...if it makes you feel uncomfortable," Santana said.

Brittany looked up sideways at her. "No. Not uncomfortable. Not at all. It's just that...I mean, you know...advice...but...wow," Brittany said entangledly. "Sorry." Santana looked across at her in return and made eye contact. A second passed, and then she began to laugh. Brittany tilted her head to the side. "What?"

"You," Santana giggled. "You're just so funny when you stutter. It's just too adorable..."

"Adorable?" Brittany smiled.

"Um..." Santana blushed. "Well...yeah. You are."

Brittany blushed back. "Thanks..." She pushed her glasses up her nose and brushed her hair behind her ear shyly. Santana watched her and smiled fondly. "I guess the best advice that I could give you is about as clichéd as the word _cliché_," Brittany said. "Be honest. And just prepare yourself for your parents' reactions. Luckily for me, my parents were amazing, but I still prepared myself for the worst. I'm not saying that your parents will react badly but there is every possibility that they could, just as there is every possibility that they could react the way that my parents did."

Santana nodded. "Just prepare myself," she repeated Brittany's words. "That's good."

"It is?" Brittany questioned.

"Yeah. It totally helps."

"It does?"

"Hey," Santana smirked. "I thought I was supposed to be the unconfident one here, remember?" She gave Brittany a poke in the arm. "But, seriously. It does mean a lot to me that you would actually help me out like that."

The two of them had now arrived at the park and were walking along the rim of the duck pond together.

"Well, or course I would. That's what friends do, right?" Brittany gave a friendly smile.

"Friend?" Santana asked. She hadn't meant it to sound as though she was disagreeing with Brittany, but the blonde still seemed to get the wrong idea.

Brittany stopped where she was beside the pond, as did Santana. "I mean, um," Brittany said quickly. "I don't want to assume we're friends, I just thought...since–"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it to sound like that," Santana assured her. "I just meant...what exactly is going on between us? Are we just friends? What is this?" One of them had to be bold about the situation, and now was as good a time as any, if not the most convenient time since they were near enough alone in the park.

Brittany opened her mouth but nothing came out. She dropped her gaze to the ground and began to play with the grass with the tips of her shoes. "I...I don't know."

Santana sighed a quiet sigh and looked down also. "Me neither."

There was a pause; and silence. It allowed the two of them to hear – or rather not hear – the stillness and quietness of the park's surroundings. They were no doubt two of the only ones there. Brittany scuffed her shoes along the grass quietly and looked up at Santana's face. Santana, realising the attention, lifted her own gaze to the blonde's face in return. She had never had one before, but she was pretty sure that this was one of those movie scene moments that always leads to something inevitably happening between the characters in a little-bit-more-than- just-friends way. Her pupils looked from one of Brittany's eyes to the other, and back again before flicking down briefly to the girl's lips. She couldn't tell exactly whether or not she felt a little awkward until she heard Brittany speak again.

"What do you want this to be?" Brittany whispered almost silently.

Santana's eyes indecisively flickered between the blonde's blue eyes and her slightly parted lips. She wasn't exactly sure of the words to use to convey the answer she wanted to give, and so instead of responding verbally, she stepped forward and - when Brittany didn't seem to object - leant in to kiss her ever so softly.

The kiss was a lot gentler than their first had been, and not anywhere near as rushed. The tenderness of Santana's lips showed Brittany just how much this kiss meant to her too; that this one wasn't as the other had been. It wasn't just a kiss that she felt the need to just get it over with as fast as she could because she felt embarrassed and scared. She actually wanted this one to mean something. But she was still a little embarrassed and pulled away shyly. She lowered her gaze as a slight smirk grew upon her lips and a blush upon her cheeks.

Brittany's eyes were now wide and her cheeks also reddening as Santana's were. She adjusted her glasses, swallowed and opened her mouth slightly.

"Um..." she whispered.

Santana's eyes lifted to meet hers and she smiled. "Yeah..."

"That was..."

"Yeah, it was..."

Brittany cleared her throat. "So, does that mean that you want this to be...?"

Santana smiled widely. "Yeah. I think I do," she said quietly. "I mean, if you do."

Brittany giggled and nodded. "I do like you, Santana."

"Is there a but?"

Brittany frowned. "No. Why would there be a but?"

Santana shrugged. "I don't know. It just sounded like there could be a but."

"You're so paranoid," she smiled. "There's no but. Just the _'I like you'_ part," Brittany said.

Santana smiled back happily. "So, what does this actually mean?" she asked. "Are we...?"

"I don't know," Brittany replied honestly. "But, I think I'd like to be..."

"You would?"

Brittany nodded.

"Me too," Santana admitted. "I really would."

"So," Brittany grinned cheekily. "I guess if we both want to then...we can do this again..." She step a little close to Santana and leant in again.

Santana breathed in as Brittany's lips touched hers. Her hands were awkwardly wavering up and down behind Brittany's back, unable to make a decision. They wanted to make contact with Brittany in some way, but she wasn't sure where to put them. Would hips be a bit too much? Would shoulders be too little?

Her not-so-subtle movements seemed to catch Brittany's attention and she pulled away again. "What are you doing?" she asked, a smirk upon her face.

"Um," Santana didn't quite know how to answer her. "I, um...I don't really know where to, you know, put them."

Brittany chuckled at her. Instead of giving a reply, she put her own hands on Santana's hips and searched again for her lips. And Santana's arms just found their way around Brittany's neck lightly as she kissed her back.

"This works."

* * *

Brittany and Santana walked along the street towards their houses, and neither one of them able to keep the smile off of their faces for even one second. Every few minutes they would glance up at each other and giggle shyly.

"So," Santana said, starting up a new conversation. "Tell me about you."

"About me?"

With a slight grin, Santana nodded. "Yes, about you," she said, a touch of amusement to her voice.

"Why do you want to know about me?" Brittany asked. "I'm honestly not that interesting."

Santana sighed. "Why do you talk down about yourself all the time? You _are_ interesting. I know you are. And besides, if we're going to be more than friends I kind of want to know about you. You know, so I know you're not a creeper who going to steal my lungs or something," she smiled.

"Lungs?" Brittany questioned with a totally straight face. "I don't specialize in lungs."

Santana raised her eyebrows. "Wow. Maybe you are a weirdo after all. Have I just made the biggest mistake of my teenage life?"

"Probably."

"_Probably_," Santana repeated with a laugh. "But I don't regret it." She looked down at their hands, which every now and again brushed against one another, and smiled. "So, tell me all the fascinating details about Brittany S. Pierce."

Brittany quirked an eyebrow. "You really want to know about my life?"

"Of course I do," Santana said. "You know, seeing as I didn't really introduce myself as politely as I could have when we first met."

Brittany shrugged. "Okay then."

She went on to explain to the brunette girl about the little town she grew up in not far from Lima; about her parents and her sister; about when she brought Lord Tubbington home from the shelter; about how she met Sam and became his best friend; and about how she used to take ballet classes when she was five years old.

"You dance?" Santana asked.

"Only when I was little," Brittany said. "I don't dance now."

"That's a shame," Santana shrugged. "I think you'd look super cute in a little pink tutu."

"Oh, shut up."

Santana giggled.

"So, what about you?" Brittany asked. "Tell me about Santana."

"There's nothing much to tell."

Brittany shook her head. "Nope. You made me confess my life story, now's your turn. You can't get out of it."

"Damn," Santana said, punching the air. "So, what do you want to know?"

"Where did you grow up?" Brittany asked.

"I actually grew up in Ohio, and then moved to Kentucky with my mom and dad," Santana said.

Brittany nodded. "So, that's why you moved back?" she asked.

"Yep. This is my home state."

The back of Santana's hand lightly knocked against Brittany's knuckles and she smiled to herself. She looked down and linked her fingers through Brittany's ever so slightly. The blonde's fingers immediately responded and their hands were soon intertwined and gently swaying simultaneously as they walked. Brittany smiled subtly at the contact between them.

"So, what's your next question?" Santana asked.

Brittany grinned. "Okay then. What do you think of my sweet lady kisses?"

Santana's brow creased in confusion. "Is that some obscure reference that I'm supposed to understand?"

Brittany shook her head and shrugged. She even blushed a little. But this new-found flirting that she and Santana had going on was just too good to stop now. "It's just kisses...but lady kisses," she explained.

"Then where does the '_sweet_' part come in?"

Brittany shrugged. "Well, that part is up to you," she said, smiling.

Santana smiled back. "So I get to decide whether you're a sweet lady kisser or if you kiss like a Great Dane?" Santana asked rhetorically. "Well, I would probably have to say...definitely sweet."

Brittany blushed. "Really?"

Santana stopped in the middle of the street. They hadn't realised before but they were now only a few steps up from their houses. Santana turned to look at Brittany – her eyes may have accidentally hovered a little too long over the girl's lips – and she answered, "Yes. Really."

Brittany blushed even more. And Santana suddenly pulled a face. And Brittany frowned.

"What's wrong?" asked the blonde.

"Nothing is wrong," Santana corrected her. "That's the point. Everything is right. I can't believe that you like me back and now we're..._this._ And I can't believe that I can kiss you, and watch you blush all the time and just...feel so at ease with you. It's just too..._right_." Santana began to laugh quietly to herself and looked into Brittany's eyes. "You're just too right for this to be true."

Brittany shook her head. "You're too right to be true."

Santana sighed. "You see? You're super humble as well as."

"Yeah, I am humble, aren't I," Brittany said, mockingly contradicting Santana's compliment. Santana rolled her eyes.

"So," said Santana. "What now?"

Brittany checked the time on her phone. "Well," she said. "It's around lunchtime. You wanna come in for something to eat? To meet my parents?"

Santana raised her eyebrows.

"I didn't mean it like that. I just want you to meet them. As my friend. We don't have to tell anyone that it's a bit more than that yet if you don't want to."

"It's not that I don't want to..." Santana tried to explain. "It's just that..."

"Santana, you don't have to explain. I get it, honestly. And I'm totally fine with it, I promise," Brittany said.

"Thanks."

Brittany gave her a friendly smile. "Come on."

As the two of them walked to Brittany's front door, Santana was reminded of something and proceeded to tell Brittany. "I've actually met your mom already today," she said. "She was the one who answered the door when I knocked earlier today."

"Oh," Brittany said. "So, it's just my dad who you haven't met? Well, he's awesome so I think you'll like him."

Santana nodded. "I'm sure I will. And, I'll be nicer to your sister this time." Brittany squinted at her. "Promise."

"Good," Brittany giggled. "You know what? I've actually met your mom too." she said, pulling out her keys and opening the front door. "She came over to introduce herself when you first moved here."

"That sounds just like mom," Santana laughed.

Brittany stepped to the side and swooped her hand in front of Santana. "After you." Santana stepped into the house and Brittany followed, closing the door behind her loudly so that her presence was heard. She waited a few minutes, and then...

_"Brittany? Is that you?"_

"Yes, mom," Brittany called back. "And I have someone I want you to meet."


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter Nineteen**

"And I have someone I want you to meet."

Brittany turned to Santana and smiled. "You okay?"

Santana nodded. "Of course."

"Oh," came the voice of Brittany's mother. "Hello again." Santana glanced down the hallway to find the kind-faced blonde lady from earlier smiling at her warmly. "Santana, wasn't it?"

Santana nodded. "That's right. Nice to see you again, Mrs Pierce."

Brittany stepped in to explain. "Mom, this is my new friend from school. She lives across the street with the new family that moved in."

"I know, we were somewhat acquainted this morning when she came around looking for you." She turned to Santana. "I see you tracked her down then," she said with a mild giggle.

"I did," Santana laughed back.

"Mom, is dad still here?" Brittany asked.

"No, you just missed him. He's gone to take your grandma shopping. He won't be long home," Mrs Pierce said. "But you're sister is. Jamie!" she called into the kitchen.

Brittany's little sister responded to the call of her name and appeared in the kitchen doorway. "What?" She peered over her mother's shoulder. "Oh. It's you."

"Jamie, I've told you to be nice to your sister," Mrs Pierce said sternly.

"I wasn't talking to Brittany."

"Have you already met Santana?" Mrs Pierce asked, confused.

"Okay," Brittany interjected. "I think I'll show Santana to my room. Jamie, can I talk to you for a second?"

"Why?"

"Because," Brittany answered. She turned to Santana. "My room is just to the left of the stairs."

"But I know where it-"

"I'll be up in a second," Brittany cut her off. Santana got the message and made her way upstairs, with a brief, _"It was nice meeting you again, Mrs Pierce,"_ as she went.

Mrs Pierce looked at her two daughters and frowned; confused. Brittany was masking a fake _everything-is-fine-and-I-haven't-done-anything-wro ng_ face. As for Jamie, she could not tell if she was completely clueless or just didn't care. She squinted suspiciously. "Are you up to something?"

Brittany shook her head and grinned even wider. "Nope."

With one last odd look at the pair of them, she made her back through the kitchen. And Brittany turned to Jamie.

"Be nice to Santana."

Jamie raised her eyebrows. "Me be nice to _her_? She was the one being a total bitch when she was last here."

"Yeah, I know," Brittany said. "But she's...well...she's changed."

"Oh, of course she's changed. People like that always _change_," Jamie said bitterly, rolling her eyes.

"No," Brittany defended. "She has changed. "She was just..." She struggled to think up a reply to her sister's words. "Jamie, stop being childish."

"_Childish?_ You sound like mom."

"Look," Brittany said. "I know that you and Santana may have gotten off on the wrong foot when she was first here..."

"Or the whole freaking leg," Jamie added.

"...but, she isn't really that person that she made herself out to be. And she is now my friend, so I would appreciate it if you would respect that and maybe the two of you could start again. And be nice to each other."

"What do you mean she isn't the person she made out to be?" Jamie questioned.

"Well, she...there was something sort of holding her back and making her seem like a bad person before. But it's all cleared up now. And now this is _her_, and she is a nice person. Not nasty," Brittany said, smiling.

"What was it holding her back?"

Brittany frowned. "It was...just something. It doesn't matter now. And it has nothing to do with you so you don't need to know."

Jamie shrugged her shoulders. "Well, it kind of does if you're asking me to embrace her as my friend."

"I'm not asking you to become friends with her. Just accept that she is my friend. And that she has changed."

"Whatever, I don't care anyway. And, fine, I'll be nice to your little girlfriend."

"I told you not to call her that," Brittany said quickly and defensively.

"Why not? Because it's not true? Or because it is?"

"Because...just stop calling her my girlfriend, Jamie. She's my friend. Okay?"

"Fine."

"Thank you," Brittany smiled. "And remember, be nice."

"For the tenth time? You're such a broken record," Jamie said, rolling her eyes again; frustrated. "I've already said I will try to be nice to you '_friend_'."

"Good." Brittany gave her little sister a genuine smile. "You want anything to eat? I'm making lunch for Santana and me."

Jamie smiled back and nodded. "Sure," she said. "Just as long as I don't have to eat it _with_ you."

Brittany smirked. "Oh, I wouldn't worry about that. I wouldn't dream of letting _you_ in my room." She and Jamie shared a smile that could only be described as hidden sisterly fondness. "So, what do you want for lunch?" Brittany asked. "I'll make it for you."

"Whatever you're having," Jamie said. "And I'll be in my room."

Brittany went to join her mother in the kitchen.

"Thanks, sis!" Jamie called as she made her way upstairs.

"That's okay, sis!"

Jamie smiled. She began heading for her room, passing Brittany's on her way; passing the room that Santana was waiting in. And she stopped. She turned around and knocked on the door. "

Um, come in," came Santana's voice from the other side.

Jamie opened the door and leaned on the doorway. "Hi," she smiled at Santana.

"Oh," Santana returned, as though she was surprised. "Hello."

"I just wanted to say sorry for the way that I greeted you when you got here," Jamie said.

Santana smiled appreciatively. "Okay. Thanks," she said. "I'm sorry too about how I was the first time we met. I guess I wasn't in the best mood and I kind of just took it out on anyone who was there. So I apologize for that."

"Thanks. And it's okay," Jamie replied. "So, how about we just start again, since you and Brittany are going to be friends now."

Santana nodded. "I'd like that."

Jamie nodded too. "Cool," she said.

Santana looked at Brittany's younger sister for a moment. "You know, you're a lot like your sister in some ways," Santana observed.

"I am?" Jamie asked.

"I mean it as a compliment," Santana added. "You're like her in a good way. I know how horrifying it can be to be compared with your sibling."

Jamie smirked. "Well, in that case, thanks, I guess."

A moment passed, and the two of them glanced up at the other a couple of times, neither knowing what else to say.

Jamie broke the silence that was building up and becoming a little awkward. She began to make her way back towards the door. "So, I'm going to go now," she said."

"Okay."

With one last smile, Jamie closed the door and made her way down the hall to her own bedroom. As soon as the door closed, Santana smirked. When she thought about it, she supposed the girl's apology and new start had probably been the work of the older Pierce daughter. That was probably what they had been talking about a moment ago.

She carried on walking around Brittany's bedroom, admiring the many things that the blonde girl owned. Many of the possessions she had already seen the first time she had been in Brittany's bedroom, but she just hadn't really shown that much appreciation for them the first time around. All of the little geeky things that were scattered around Brittany's room – posters, models, DVD collections. She studied them all as she waited for Brittany. She saw a little part of Brittany in every single one of them. They were just so...Brittany, in every way possible.

The door opened, and in walked the girl carrying a tray of sandwiches and drinks. "Hi," she said to Santana. She set them down on her bed and sat down beside them.

Santana joined her, perching herself on the bed on the other side of the tray. "Hi," she said back to her.

"Hi," Brittany said again. "Sorry. Double _hello_ there."

"I don't mind." Santana smiled. She took another look around Brittany's room from where she was sat. "I like your room. I know I've seen it before, but, you know, I was a little rude about it then."

Brittany shook her head. "New start, remember."

"Oh yeah, of course," Santana giggled. "Still, I do like it. It's really...you. It's sweet."

"Thanks," Brittany said, brushing her hair behind her ear. "Maybe I could see your room some time. I've only been able to see it from a distance." Her eyes widened a little bit as soon as she finished her sentence. "That sounded weird."

"It's fine."

"I didn't mean–"

"I know."

"I just meant that..."

"I understand," Santana assured her, grinning widely with amusement. Brittany gave a small laugh.

"I'm sorry. I'm always so awkward with my words."

"Like I said, it's cute. There's no need to apologize for being cute."

Brittany's cheeks turned a light shade of pink and she hastily directed their subject of conversation away from her apparent '_cuteness_', which was embarrassing her a little bit. "So, I brought us some sandwiches and my dad's lemonade."

Santana smiled happily. "I love your dad's lemonade."

"I know you do," Brittany recalled.

"This looks awesome. Thank you, Brittany."

"You're welcome," the blonde replied. "I thought cheese was a safe option since I don't really know what sort of filling you like in your sandwiches. Or in fact if you actually like sandwiches. I probably should have asked. It's not really a subject that comes into conversation a lot. Do you like cheese sandwiches? I can get you something else if you–"

"I like cheese sandwiches," Santana smiled.

"Okay. Good. Just checking."

"You seem really nervous," Santana observed.

"Nervous?"

Santana nodded. "Are you?"

"A little," Brittany admitted. "It's just the fact that you're sitting in my room right now, and we've kissed and now we're sort of dating, and you like cheese sandwiches," she laughed. "It's all a bit too much to believe it's real and really happening."

"I know. But, it is happening," Santana said, pushing the tray of food aside and shuffling beside Brittany. "And it is still what you want, right?"

"Of course it is. It's awesome. You're awesome. And all of this makes me feel awesome."

"It does?"

"Yeah." Brittany nodded.

"Me too."

The two of them giggled together, and Brittany shared the snacks between them. And it was only a matter of time before there was a shuffling coming from outside the door, and an attention-seeking meow on the other side of it. Brittany rolled her eyes as she got up to open her door. In ran Lord Tubbington. He waddled towards Brittany's bed, ready to pounce up onto her sheets, but stop dead in his tracks and looked up at Santana.

Brittany introduced them. "Santana, this is Lord Tubbington."

"Lord Tubbington?" Santana asked, giggling. "That's adorable." She studied the cat, noticing his tummy slightly resting on the floor of Brittany's bedroom. "And it suits him, if you don't mind me saying."

Brittany laughed. "Course not. That's why I named him Lord _Tubbington_," she said. "It was either that or Mr Blubberbelly. And I doubt the neighbours would be too pleased to hear me calling that out of the back garden door when he goes for a wonder."

Santana laughed and looked back down at the cat. "He's cute."

"I think he could smell the cheese," Brittany said. "It's his favourite food. So, mind he doesn't steal it from you."

"I'll try."

Brittany sat back down in her spot and threw him a little nibble of cheese from her sandwich to keep him busy. She turned to Santana as she began to eat her sandwich, and just looked at her for a moment without saying anything.

"Have I got food on my face?" Santana asked, suddenly self-conscious.

"No," Brittany shook her head. "You're just really..." Santana swallowed a piece of her sandwich and looked at Brittany. "You're really pretty."

Santana smiled. "You think so?" she asked delicately.

Brittany nodded. "Yeah. You really are."

"Thank you," Santana said shyly. "You are too."

"You're just saying that."

"I'm not. Of course I'm not. You are really pretty."

Brittany gave a small smile. "Thank you," she said. "You remember that time I first saw you at school? That's what I was thinking. That you were so pretty. And when I saw you through your...um...window," she finished slowly.

Santana couldn't help but smile as she recalled her first night back in Lima. "Through the window," she repeated, unable to keep the amusement from her voice. "When you saw me in my underwear," she grinned.

Brittany glanced across at her and noticed the amusement across her face. She let out a giggle. "Yeah. In your Miffy underwear."

"That was a present from my Abuela," Santana defended.

"She does know you're sixteen and not six, right?" Brittany asked, grinning widely.

"You're never too old to appreciate Miffy the bunny," Santana shrugged, ignoring Brittany's sarcasm.

"To be honest..." Brittany said quietly. "That wasn't really what I was paying that much attention to," she admitted, looking down at her sandwich as her smile widened.

Santana raised her eyebrows. "I know," she said. "I kind of saw you checking me out. Like what you see, did you?" she teased.

Brittany's cheeks began to turn crimson and she shrugged. "Maybe I did. But you can't exactly blame me. I mean, have you seen yourself?" she teased back.

Now it was Santana's turn to blush. And she loved it. She loved the way that this girl made her feel. She loved the way that this girl could make her turn into a pile of nerves just by smiling at her. And send her stomach into a butterfly frenzy. And could take her mind off of everything that worried her in the world, especially the worry of coming out to her parents. But now that she had Brittany, she knew it would be a thousand times better, whatever the outcome. Because...she had Brittany.

Santana had been silently staring at the ground for a few moments now. Brittany noticed. "Are you okay?" she asked.

Santana looked sideways at her, smiled and replied. "Yeah. I was just thinking."

"About what?"

"How I can embarrass you now," she answered mockingly.

Brittany narrowed her eyes at the brunette. "Bring it on," she challenged.

"Maybe I will," Santana said, trying to sound threatening.

Brittany gave her a smile, and then began to look at her again; his time unaware that she was actually staring.

Santana wiped her mouth. "Are you sure I don't have food on my face?" she asked.

Brittany shook her head. "Yeah," she said reassuringly. "It's just..."

"What?" Santana asked quietly.

Brittany stared into Santana's brown eyes and smiled ever so softly. "Your eyes," Brittany said in an equally quiet voice. "They're just so beautiful." Santana watched intently as Brittany's pupils flicked from the left to the right as the blonde looked into each of her eyes. "They were actually the first thing I noticed about you."

"My eyes?" Santana asked softly.

Brittany nodded and smiled lightly. "I remember when you first looked at me and...I think my heart just stopped for a second. And then every other time you looked at me. Those eyes just..." She trailed off.

Santana gave the girl a sweet grin and dropped her eyes to her hands. She reached across to delicately thread them through Brittany's. "Is that true?" she asked.

Brittany nodded. "Yeah. It is."

"That's the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me. Ever."

"Well," Brittany said, suddenly feeling incredibly cheesy. "You have the sweetest eyes I've ever seen."

Santana giggled. She leaned forward to place a gentle kiss on Brittany's lips. "Thank you."

Brittany giggled back. You're welcome," she whispered. "And, you know what?"

Santana shook her head.

"You're lips are pretty sweet too."

* * *

After being introduced to Mr Pierce as soon as he got home and complementing him on his homemade lemonade, Santana made her farewells to Brittany's family and thanked Mrs Pierce for having her for lunch. Brittany insisted she would walk Santana home.

"But, she lives across the street," Jamie said, butting into their conversation.

Brittany squinted at her. "So?"

Jamie shrugged. "You're weird sometimes."

"So are you," Brittany bit back as Jamie walked out of the hallway and into the living room.

Santana smiled at Brittany. "No complaints from me," she said. She and Brittany made their way outside. They crossed over the road and stood by the path leading up to Santana's front door.

Brittany shivered. "You know, I'm glad you don't live far from my house. It's freezing out here," she said.

Santana opened her arms. "Come here." Brittany waddled into Santana's embrace and rested her head on the girl's shoulder. "Better?"

"Much."

As soon as they pulled away, Brittany began to shiver again, but tried to keep it subtle. She looked across at Santana. "So..."

"So..." Santana repeated. "Thank you for today."

"You're welcome," Brittany said. "And thank you too. I had an awesome time."

"Me too," Santana agreed. "We should do it again sometime," she giggled.

"Yeah, maybe we should," Brittany giggled back. "Actually, before I forget," she said, pulling out her phone. "I don't actually have your number." The two of them exchanged phones and typed in their numbers before handing them back. Brittany took a quick look at the little heart that Santana put after her name and smiled before putting it back into her pocket.

"Brittany?"

"Yeah?"

"I think I'm going to tell them tonight," Santana said unexpectedly. "My parents, I mean." She looked up to find Brittany looking at her intently.

"You are?" she asked.

Santana took a deep breath and nodded. "I think so. Yeah. I guess its better just to do it than to get myself all worked up about it."

Brittany took Santana's hands and squeezed them. It was very comforting. "If you're ready to."

Santana nodded.

"Are you worried?" Brittany asked.

Santana nodded.

Brittany looked down at the girl's hand in hers. "I can feel you shaking too. Is that just the cold?"

Santana shook her head. "I'm sorry," she apologized.

"Don't be," Brittany shook her head. She smiled at Santana. "I'm sure everything will be fine."

"You really think so?" Santana asked, unsure.

"Yeah. You'll be fine. And, you know that if you need me at all that I'm just across the street. You can call me or knock on my door at any time and I'll be here for you."

Santana smiled and gently replied, "Thank you, Brittany. You really are amazing, you know."

"So are you."

Brittany pulled Santana into another hug and rubbed her back comfortingly. Santana rested her chin on the padding of Brittany's coat and hugged her back tightly. "You're the best girlfriend ever."

_Girlfriend_. Brittany had never thought that one word would mean so much to her. But spoken by the girl with the midnight eyes from across the street, in this moment it felt like the best word she had ever heard.

She felt Santana nuzzling her into the crook of her neck and her warm lips pressing a soft kiss on her skin, and she smiled happily. She pulled back and went back to holding Santana's hands. "Are you sure you're ready?"

"I am now," Santana replied. With one last deep breath, she let go of Brittany's hands. "I'll see you later, then," she said.

"Bye, Santana." She stepped back and watched Santana walk up her garden path and open the door. Santana turned and waved, and Brittany made her way back over to her own house. She had a smile on her face as she closed the front door behind her. Pulling out her phone, she typed out a message to her newest added contact. She pressed send and made her way into the living room to join her parents and sister.

_Good luck xx_


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter Twenty**

Santana was nervous; of course she was, there was no denying that. But, despite her nerves, she felt as though she was ready. She wasn't half as scared and withdrawn about the situation as she would have been had it not been for Brittany and her support. That morning, Santana had left her house not quite knowing where she and Brittany stood with each other, but after spending the day with her at the park and at her house, she knew exactly where they were at. And it was the best feeling in the world to her. Just being able to take Brittany by the hand and look into her eyes was the best feeling in the world. And she feared that without Brittany's support, she would have been stuck. But there was no need to fear now because only across the street from her house was the beautiful blonde girl. And now inside Santana's heart was all of Brittany's support.

Santana waited until after dinner to speak to her parents. As soon as she had checked her phone as she got in the house, she had received a message from Brittany wishing her luck, but other than that her phone had remained silent. Since she hadn't told Brittany exactly when she was going to tell her parents, she supposed the girl was simply awaiting a response from her so as not to – well – interrupt.

Santana offered to clear up all of the plates and took them into the kitchen. She took a moment to compose herself, breathing in and breathing out; telling herself it would be fine. Reminding herself of what Brittany had assured her; that she would be there for her no matter what the outcome. She made her way back into the living room to join her parents.

The two of them were sat beside each other on the couch watching the television and smiled at Santana as she took her seat again. "Thank you for clearing up, mi amor," said her mother.

"No problem," Santana smiled. She sat forward in her chair. "Um...mom, dad. Can I talk to you about something?"

"Of course you can," her mother said. Her father switched off the television and they both looked towards their daughter.

"Okay," Santana breathed. "Um...I don't quite know how I can say this to make it any easier for myself," she said honestly.

"Is something wrong?" asked her father.

Santana shook her head. "Well, I...I hope not," she said, looking down. "Do you know that girl Brittany from across the road?"

Mrs Lopez nodded her head. "Yes, I remember her. I introduced myself when we first arrived." She turned to Santana's dad. "You remember that sweet girl from across the street I told you about?" He nodded.

Santana looked at them both. "Right. Well, um. She's the one who I've been with all day," Santana said.

Mrs Lopez smiled. "Oh, so you've made a new friend already? That's sweet."

"Well, yeah. Sort of," Santana said. "But, um...she's kind of a little bit more than just a friend." Santana looked down for a moment, searching for words. "She's sort of my girlfriend. Because..." Looking up at her parents bravely, she said the words she had been so afraid to say. "I'm gay." She paused for a moment and tried to decipher the reaction on her parents' faces. But, as of yet, there was no indication of their reactions yet to come. The two of them were still looking at her with the same eyes as before which was telling her nothing. So Santana continued. "I think I've known for some time now. It's not just something new that has developed since meeting Brittany. I felt this way back in Kentucky too, but I guess Brittany was the one who really helped me to...accept it. And embrace it. So, I just wanted you to know because you two mean the world to me and I don't want to keep this from you like it's something I'm ashamed of," she said. "I'm gay, and that's who I am."

She looked down at the ground again. She wasn't sure which part was the hardest for her – actually finding the courage to say the words to her parents, or awaiting their reaction. But she remembered Brittany's words, and she prepared herself for any sort of reaction that would come her way. Even still, the wait terrified her to the bone.

She lifted her eyes and watched as her parents looked at each other. "Please say something. Please," she said quietly.

_Prepare yourself for any reaction_.

She was prepared; but the reaction they gave was not one she had expected. "We know," said her mother.

Santana frowned, confused by her mother's words. "What do you mean?"

Her mother sighed and sat right forward on the tip of the couch. "Santana," she began. "You're my daughter, and although I know you have your secrets – just like all teenagers do – I have noticed a change in you. We both have. Especially back in Kentucky, we had noticed something different about your behaviour. We suspected it might have something to do with this."

Santana looked at the two of them and nervously asked, "Are you mad?"

"Of course we're not mad, sweetie," said Mrs Lopez. "Of course not." She looked across at Santana's father. "We love you so much, Santana, and we're so proud of you. You know," she said smiling. "I look at you now and I think back to that little girl who we raised. The sweet little girl who has grown into such an amazing person. And I feel so proud to have been a part of that. Just as I am proud that you felt you could confide in us about something as personal as this."

Santana felt her eyes slightly brimming with tears. But she gave a small smile. "Really?"

Santana's mother stood up and perched herself on the arm of the chair that Santana was sat. "Come here," she said. "There's no need to look like that, mi amor." She wrapped her arms around her daughter's shoulders and squeezed her tightly. "Listen to me," she said quietly. "If this is who you are, then we are going to support it one hundred percent, aren't we?" She looked across at Santana's father.

"Dad, you haven't said much," Santana observed cautiously.

Her father looked at her, hesitated but gave a soft smile. "Of course we are," he said, agreeing with Mrs Lopez. Santana's mother looked at him for a moment before cuddling Santana again and kissing her lightly on the top of the head.

"Santana?"

"Yes, mom?"

"Thank you for telling us," she said.

After receiving multiple hugs from her mother and reminders of how much they both love her, Santana announced she was tired and said goodnight, and received yet another hug from her mother. She hung by the doorway and turned back into the living room. "Night, dad," she said.

Her father looked at her and smiled gently. "Goodnight, sweetheart."

She made her way up the stairs, but stopped as soon as she heard a faint conversation starting up between her parents. She heard her mother's voice. _"Why didn't you say anything? We've talked about this before."_

At first she wasn't sure if her father was speaking very quietly or wasn't speaking at all, but then she heard his voice respond. _"Yes, we've discussed it before and I've told you how I feel about this situation,"_ he said.

_"She just wanted to see you support her. That was a very brave thing she just did, telling is straight out like that."_

Santana frowned and sat down on the step to better her hearing of the conversation.

_"I know it was, Maribel. I'm just concerned." _

_"About what exactly_?" Santana heard her mother ask.

_"I'm concerned that she isn't going to be able to cope with the...consequences that are going to be thrown her way because of her sexuality. It's a very cruel world out there with some very cruel people."_

_"Of course it is. And that's why we need to show her that there are people who are going to support her like we are. That not everyone in the world is going to want to discriminate her because of who she is."_

_"I know,"_ her father said softly.

_"Look, I know you're concerned. Do you not think I am as well?"_ her mother said. _"But right now we need to worry about how this is making our daughter feel. I know it's going to be tough for her, and that's why she doubly needs our support right now." _

_"You're right,"_ agreed her father. _"I should have shown her support like you did instead of getting caught up in the future."_ There was a pause. _"I'll speak with her in the morning, I won't disturb her now,"_ he said.

Santana stood up at the top of the stairs and made her way to her bedroom, allowing her mind to ponder over the conversation she had just heard. In a way she was relieved that her father didn't hate her for coming out, but there was still a part of her that was still a little bit uneasy. What her father had said was true; it was a cruel world out there. What if she couldn't with all the cruel people in it that she would meet?

Resting her body onto her bed, she let out a sigh of relief that she had told them. The part she was dreading was over. But what was to come? A vibrating began to sound from the side of her bed and she turned her head to see. She picked up her phone, and the smile that she had been wearing all day returned to her face as she answered it. She had never been happier to see a single word flash up on the screen of her phone.

"Hello," she said with a grin on her face.

From the other end of the line came Brittany's voice, sounding rather cautious. "Hello," she said. "So...how did it go?" she asked.

Santana sat up on the bed and crossed her legs, facing the wall above the backboard of her head. "It went good, I think."

"Good?"

Santana smiled. "Yeah. And you were right. It was fine."

"Yeah?"

Santana could hear that Brittany had a smile on her face. She giggled. "Yeah," she said. "And Brittany?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you," she whispered. "For helping me and supporting me like you have. I wouldn't have been able to go through with it if it weren't for you."

Brittany giggled slightly and felt a tingle run across her spine, feeling touched by Santana's words. "You're welcome." There was a pause between the two of them. "You know what?" Brittany said.

"What?"

"This is our first phone call," Brittany pointed out. "Ever."

"So it is," Santana agreed. "I like it."

"I have something to show you," said Brittany. "But you have to stand up and turn around."

Santana uncrossed her legs and shuffled off of her bed. "Can you see me from your window or something?" she giggled. Brittany didn't reply, but she soon found out the answer for herself. Across the street from Santana's bedroom, stood by the window if her own bedroom was Brittany with a large smile on her face. She was holding a piece of card up to the window. Santana squinted and stepped forward to see what it spelled. _'Proud of you!'_ followed by a smiley face.

"Brittany, that is so sweet of you," Santana smiled over the phone, only this time the blonde could see it. "I feel like Taylor Swift in that music video right now."

Brittany shrugged. "I was actually going for Mark from Love Actually, but I guess you're right. It is more like Taylor Swift."

Santana giggled. "Do you have any more cards?" she asked.

"No."

"Well, in that case..." She turned around and disappeared from Brittany's view. "Hold on a second." Brittany pulled her card down from the window and waited for Santana to return. And when she did, she held her own card up to the window. Brittany read: _'Thank you! Best girlfriend ever.'_ followed by a smiley face with a nose.

"You put noses on your smiley faces?" Brittany asked.

"Yeah. It's cool. Smiley faces with noses are cool," she said.

Brittany giggled.

"What?"

"Nothing," Brittany said.

"What were you laughing at?" Santana asked.

Brittany looked across the street at her. "You're just...so cute." She pushed her glasses up her nose and cleared her throat gently. "Anyway," she changed the subject. "I have something I need to ask you."

"What's that?" Santana asked, pulling down the card from the window and dropping it to the floor.

"It's about Sam," Brittany said.

"You want to tell him about us?" Santana guessed.

"How did you know?"

Santana shrugged. "I don't know, call it girlfriend's instinct."

"I don't know if I want to tell him. I mean, he's my best friend and, if I'm honest, he's going to start noticing a difference in me. I just don't want him to work it out for himself and then get mad at me for not telling him."

"Does that sound like something he would do?" Santana asked.

"I don't know," Brittany answered honestly. "I know Sam like he's my brother, but before you got here he's never acted as protective over me as he has been. Because, well, I've never had anyone else take...an interest in me, I guess."

"Do you think he knew I liked you from the beginning?" Santana asked.

Brittany's eyes lifted to meet her from across the street again. She gave a small smile, but then looked to the floor and spoke into the phone. "I don't know," she said for a third time. "If he did, he didn't show it. But...I certainly didn't know," she added. "I don't know what to do."

"Well," said Santana. "We don't have to worry about that now, right? We're together and we both know how each other feels about that. That's all that's important right now."

"You're right," Brittany said, smiling. "And, I'm sorry for going on about Sam after you've just come out to your parents."

Santana shook her head. "Don't be. I'm kind of glad you were taking my mind off of it," she said honestly.

Brittany nodded understandingly. "Are you sure it went okay?" she asked, furrowing her brow.

"Yeah. Of course," Santana answered. "It's just, I don't know...a little scary. And my dad is a little concerned."

_"Concerned?"_

"That I won't be able to cope with what's to come," Santana told her. "What if he's right? What if I can't cope with all the people I'm going to have to deal with because they don't like who I am?"

Santana heard Brittany sigh gently over the phone. "Santana, when I first met you, you seemed to me like the toughest kid in the school."

"On the outside," Santana argued.

"And you're strong on the inside too. And you know you are," Brittany grinned.

"I'm not saying there aren't going to be comments from people who just make you feel torn apart at times, but I'm saying you're strong enough to look passed them and their small-minded attitude and to not let anyone tell you how to live. That's what being human is about. Not letting any other person change who you are because they don't like it. And I know you can do that."

"How do you know?"

"Because you have awesomeness on your side," Brittany answered in a dead serious voice.

Santana cracked a smile. _"Awesomeness?"_

"Yep."

"Thanks, Brittany," said Santana sweetly. "Thank you."

"You're going to be fine," Brittany assured her. "I know you are."

Santana nodded. "I believe you. You were right the last time you said that."

Brittany gave a light smile. "You sure?" she asks, just to make sure. "There's nothing else that's bothering you?"

Santana hesitated, but not for the reason Brittany thought. Then she grinned cheekily. "Only that you're all the way over there and I'm over here."

Brittany giggled. "Really?"

"Mm hm," she answered. "So, um, I was wondering if you had any plans tomorrow," she asked slowly.

"You were wondering?" Brittany asked, quirking her eyebrow.

"Well," Santana pondered. "I was _hoping_ you don't have any plans tomorrow," she corrected. "Because, I was wondering if you wanted to do something...with me?"

"Do you mean like a date?" Brittany asked curiously.

"Yes," Santana answered quietly. "I mean like a date. Our first date."

"What about today? Wasn't that a date?" Brittany asked.

"I guess so," Santana agreed. "Our second date then." She left a pause and waited for Brittany to say something. "So, what do you say?"

Brittany's face lit up as she looked across the street at Santana. "Yes. I would love to go on a second date with you," she said.


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter Twenty One**

"Brittany? Hi, it's Sam. Call me back when you get this message."

The bright blue eyes of Brittany Pierce shifted over to look at her phone, which lay just a few metres away from her on her bed. She had heard it vibrate with a text, she had heard her ringtone sound with an incoming call, and she had known it was Sam, even before he left a message on her answer machine, but she also knew that she had been ignoring his calls and texts recently for fear of not knowing how to be around him while she knew she was keeping something from him. She just didn't know how to tell him about Santana, given their past disagreement with each other. So, for now, the best idea she could come up with was pretending she was busy and avoiding his calls.

What exactly was she supposed to tell him? _Santana's changed and I've fallen for her? Santana and I are dating, deal with it? I'm sorry I can't hang out today, Sam, I have a second date with my new girlfriend, Santana? _She pondered on a particular question for a moment. _Would this be any easier for her if she were straight and was now dating the boy from across the street?_ Then she made an abrupt and assured answer: _No._ Of course it wouldn't be easier; neither would it be more difficult. She would still be in the same position and would still not know where to start explaining.

It was obvious to her how Sam felt about Santana. She had heard it from him in person and she had witnessed his distaste the girl for herself. He wasn't fond of her, and he hadn't seemed very fond of the fact that Brittany had forgiven her for the way she had acted when they first met. But he was her best friend, and he was always supportive of everything she did or felt. So, surely, he would support her now.

Brittany knew Sam was only being so protective over her because he cared about her. He had always cared about her, and he always worried about her safety. He was just that kind of friend, and he couldn't help himself. Brittany appreciated his concern for her, but she had to admit that – just sometimes – she wished he didn't try to claim her. She needed her freedom to make her own decisions – even if that meant she ended up getting her heart broken.

All Brittany wanted was for everything to be okay between her and Sam, and at the same time for everything to be okay between her and Santana. She didn't want her relationship with Santana to be the reason for her friendship with Sam to crumble. And, at the same time, she didn't want her friendship with Sam to break her relationship with Santana. And the one thing that she was terrified of having to do was being forced to make a choice between her relationship and her friendship. Because that just wouldn't be fair.

Brittany sighed and picked up her phone. She checked her texts from Sam and her two missed calls. Rolling over onto her stomach, she called his number and waited for him to pick up – which he did almost immediately.

"Britt," he answered. "Where have you been? I've been trying to get hold of you for a half hour."

"I was...busy," Brittany lied. "Studying."

"Brittany, I know you. You never study."

"Well, maybe I've changed. Is that so bad?" she asked.

Sam paused for a moment. "No."

"So, what was it that you wanted?" Brittany asked him.

"Well, I just wanted to talk to you. I have seen or spoken to you for quite a bit," he answered her simply.

"Sam, it's been a day."

"I know," he said, a hint of confusion in his voice. "Britt, have I done something wrong?"

Brittany frowned. "No," she said. "What makes you think that?"

"You sound a little..."

"A little what?"

"I don't know. A little irritated with me."

Brittany sighed. What was she doing? She hadn't even told Sam about her and Santana yet and she was already presuming his reaction. And she was acting cold with him, even though he hadn't done anything wrong.

"You still there?" he asked.

"Yeah. Sorry," Brittany answered.

"Look, if I've done something wrong then please just tell me. You were acting like this when you came over to my house the other day. Was it something I said then?" Sam asked her. His voice showed Brittany his confusion at her behaviour. And he was completely right.

"Sam, you haven't done anything wrong," she assured him. "It's me."

"What?" he said frowning. "You've done something wrong?"

"No," Brittany said. "I didn't mean that." She hesitated. "Do you want to come round?"

"To your house?"

"Well, yeah," Brittany answered. "To my house."

"Sure," he said. "Is there something you want to talk to me about?"

Brittany hesitated again as she thought for a moment. "Yeah," she finally gave her answer. "I do."

"Okay," Sam said. "I'll be over in a bit then."

"See you soon."

Brittany hung up her phone and dropped it back down onto the bed, watching it bounce up and down before resting screen side down on top of her duvet. Giving a long sigh, she rested her cheek against her sheets and closed her eyes.

* * *

Brittany opened to the door and stepped to the side to let Sam into the house. "Hey," she greeted him.

"Hi," he said back. "You okay?"

Brittany nodded. "Fine. You?"

"I guess so," he answered. "I'm a bit worried though."

"About what?"

"About you," he said. "There's obviously a problem between us because you're never like this with me."

As she closed the door behind her, she turned to face him, looking directly into his eyes and telling him softly, "Sam, I promise you that you haven't done anything wrong. I promise, okay? It's just something that's bugging me. And I don't want to keep it from you anymore."

"Okay then," Sam said. "What is it?"

"Come upstairs."

"Why upstairs?" Sam asked. "Why not down here?"

"Because," Brittany said. "I have to talk to you properly. Just trust me."

"Okay," Sam said. "After you."

Brittany led the way up to her room, Sam following closely behind. The whole way up, Sam had a look on his face that could only be described as ambivalent; he wasn't just confused or just concerned or just intrigued, or _just_ anything.

Brittany's bedroom door was pulled to and she turned to face Sam before opening it. "Before we talk I just want you to promise me."

"Promise what?" Sam asked, furrowing his brow.

"Promise me that you're my best friend."

"What?"

Brittany looked down and took him softly by the hand. "Promise that you'll be my best friend no matter what," she pleaded.

Sam gave a smile, despite his confusion. He rubbed his thumb over the girl's knuckles and said to her in a comforting tone. "Brittany," he whispered. "Of course I will be."

Brittany looked down. "I don't want to lose this," she said. "Because you mean so much to me. I don't want to lose my best friend."

"You won't. Whatever it is, you won't lose me," Sam told her. "I promise."

Nodding slowly, Brittany looked up again into his eyes. "And promise you won't freak out."

"Freak out?" he questioned. "Why would I freak out?"

Before Brittany had a chance to answer his question, her bedroom door opened behind her. The two of them turned around. Brittany braced herself as Sam looked at the person standing in the doorway to her bedroom.

"Santana," Sam said slowly. He did not show any indication of an emotion; he simply stared at the girl into her midnight eyes and then looked at Brittany. Santana looked to Brittany too.

"Please don't be mad," Brittany said.

Sam shook his head. "I'm not mad."

"Santana and I are dating." Sam's eyes flicked back over to Santana who was still looking in Brittany's direction. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about."

Santana looked at Sam again. "I wanted to talk to you too," she said. "Because I was hoping that you and I could settle our differences. I know we haven't gotten off to the best start," she said, glancing at Brittany. "All of us. And I take responsibility for that. But I want to prove to you that I have changed and I just want us to be friends. If that's okay with you."

Sam said nothing, but Santana watched him as he turned his head to Brittany and smiled at her. Brittany looked back at him and tried to unearth a reaction from him. "Say something," she said softly. "Please."

"If that's what you want, Britt."

Brittany's lips curled slightly. She nodded. "But I want you to want it too. Don't just pretend for my sake."

"Why don't Sam and I talk alone for a second," Santana suggested. Sam looked back at her. "Sound like a plan?"

Sam nodded. "I guess so."

Brittany glanced between the two of them. "Okay. I'll just get us some drinks," she said, and left the two of them alone, making her way down stairs and into the kitchen.

Santana and Sam stepped into Brittany's bedroom and sat themselves down on Brittany's bed. There was an apparent gap between them from where each of them was sitting, but they both knew that was to be expected. Santana was the one to start the conversation.

"I know you don't like me," she said assuredly.

Sam shook his head, disagreeing with her. "I never said that."

"You don't really have to," Santana smiled. "I can see it in your eyes."

"It's not that I don't _like_ you," Sam said. "It's..."

"You don't trust me?" Santana said. Her question hadn't sounded much like a question. "I get it. I don't blame you."

Sam sighed. "Brittany's my best friend and I'm just trying to look out for her. How do I know that you're not going to break her heart? You didn't exactly make yourself very friendly when she first met you."

"I know."

"I know she thinks you've changed," he said.

Santana looked him in the eyes; they backed up what he was saying. She could see unease. But she could also see something – not very noticeable, but it was there – a little part of him that wanted to trust her.

"Sam," she began. "I don't expect you to trust me. And I can see how much Brittany means to you. She means a lot to me too – I know that might be kind of hard for you to see because of the way I treated her when we first met. If I could start again, I would. I totally would because I regret every single nasty word I said to her, and every single time I treated her like I hated her. It doesn't excuse the way I behaved, but the reason I acted the way I did was because I was scared about the way I felt about her."

Sam quirked an eyebrow. "How do you feel about her?"

As Santana spoke, she felt herself smiling slightly as she thought about the blonde girl. "The first time I saw her, I thought she was so beautiful. Everytime I saw her eyes, it just made me wish I could have started again and not acted like a complete bitch. She was the one to suggest we start again. She's just amazing."

"She is," Sam agreed.

"I really like her, Sam. And that is the honest truth."

Sam smiled slightly. "You like her, huh?"

Santana looked down at her lap. "Well..." she said slowly. "Please don't tell her this, but I think...I know...I'm falling in love with her."

The blond boy's eyebrows rose slightly. He was a little taken aback by Santana's confession, especially the fact that she was confessing something as open and personal as this. He couldn't help but smile. Santana noticed and couldn't help her own smile.

"I saw that," said Santana.

"Saw what?"

"You smiled."

"So did you."

The two of them looked at each other for a moment in silence. Their body language had changed from before and both of them looked rather a lot more comfortable with each other. Santana shifted her eyes towards Brittany's door. "I guess she'll be back up in a minute," she said. As she stood up from the bed, she told Sam, "I'll go and see if she needs any help with the drinks."

Sam stood up too. "I'll trust you," he said.

Santana stopped in her tracks and turned to face him. "You will?"

"Well," Sam said. "If you're going to be Brittany's girlfriend then I guess we should at least try to get along. And besides, this you...the _'real'_ you...she's not so bad." He looked down at the floor and smiled unintentionally. "You're not so bad."

Santana grinned. "Not so bad? I'll take that," she said. "And, you know what; you're not so bad either, Blondie."

Sam's eyebrows rose and he let out an amused smirk. "Hey, watch it," he joked.

Just as Santana turned and made her way to the door, it was pushed open from the other side by Brittany, who walked in precariously carrying three glasses of lemonade. She stopped in front of Santana and gave a nervous look. Glancing over Santana's shoulder, she gave the same look to Sam. "Should I be worried?" she asked, not quite knowing what else to ask them.

Sam rose and stood beside Santana. "You're girlfriend actually isn't too terrible when you get to know her," he said, smiling sideways at the brunette girl.

Santana squinted at him. And Brittany smiled widely. "So, you two are...okay?" she asked.

"I guess so," Sam nodded.

Brittany made a noise that would have been excruciatingly embarrassing had anybody else heard. She swiftly put down the drinks and threw her arms around Sam. Sam hugged her back. She whispered into his ear, "Thank you."

He whispered back into her ear, "Just as long as you're happy with her, I can't argue with that."

As soon as she pulled away from Sam, she threw her arms around an Unexpectant Santana, who stumbled backwards slightly, but as soon as she recovered responded by hugging the blonde. Brittany kissed her softly on the cheek and then pulled back. She looked at the two of them and smiled.

"I've got my best friend and my girlfriend. What could be better?"

There was a gentle padding sound behind her and she turned to watch Lord Tubbington waddling into her room. He walked straight in between Brittany and Santana and Sam and jumped up onto her bed, settling down into a lazy ball and staring at the three of them. He purred softly.

Brittany looked back towards Sam and Santana and let out a giggle. "I think it just got better," she laughed.

* * *

Santana had made her way home as Brittany walked Sam back to his house and proceeded in beginning a conversation between the two of them. Brittany turned to him and gave him a smile.

"Thank you, Sam," she said sweetly.

Sam looked across at her as they walked together and furrowed his brow. "Thanks for what?"

"For being so cool with Santana," Brittany answered. "I really appreciate it, you know."

Sam smiled and shrugged. "Well, you like her, so..."

"That doesn't mean you have to like her too," Brittany pointed out. "But the fact that you're trying to get along with her for me. I appreciate that," she said happily.

"Well," Sam said slowly. "I have to admit now that I've gotten to know her a bit better...she doesn't seem so bad."

Brittany tilted her head. "You mean you're starting to like her?" she grinned.

Sam shrugged and pulled a funny face. "I didn't say that exactly," he smiled. "She's...okay," he said.

"Okay?"

"Yeah."

"Well," said Brittany. "That's a start."

"And, Britt?"

"Yeah?"

Sam smiled softly at his best friend and told her truthfully. "She does really like you."

Brittany grinned back at him, happy by his statement. From being completely untrusting of Santana only a few hours ago to him now saying that he believed they way she felt about Brittany was not a trick or a lie or a way to break her heart and humiliate her was a huge step. And Brittany was just happy that things had actually for once worked out the way she was hoping.

"I really like her, too," Brittany admitted to the blond boy.

Sam nodded understandingly. "Hey," he said. "Do you want me to tell Mike, or did you want to keep it, you know, private?"

Brittany nodded. "I don't really want the whole school to know about us," she said.

"Fair point."

"But I trust Mike. And he is my friend after all. I don't think Santana would mind."

"Especially if she's going to be hanging around with you more now," Sam pointed out. "He'd notice something had changed."

"Yeah, okay," Brittany nodded. "If you wouldn't mind."

"Course not."

Brittany and Sam soon reached his house and said their goodbyes to each other. On her walk home, Brittany received a text from Santana.

'_Hey, do you want to come over to my house when you get back? Just to hang out?'_

Brittany couldn't help her smile as she texted a reply.

'_I would love to. Does that mean I finally get to see your room?'_

'_Of course :) See you soon'_


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter Twenty Two (Finale)**

Brittany walked all the way back to her house with a wide smile on her face. Although the day hadn't gone quite as she had expected – planned for that matter – she was still happy. She hadn't quite gotten her second date with Santana, but she had been honest with her best friend about their relationship, and things had actually worked out the way she had been hoping. And now she was off to her _girlfriend's _house to spend some time with her _girlfriend_, and things couldn't have been better. As she walked through the door of her house, she let her parents where she was going.

"Brittany, wait a second," Mrs Pierce called her back.

"Yeah?" Brittany popped her head back into the living room.

"Maybe you could invite Santana around one day this week for dinner. We didn't really get a chance to meet her properly," her mother said, looking across at Brittany's father. He nodded in agreement.

Brittany nodded at the two of them. "Yeah," she said, smiling. "I'll ask her." As she made her way out of the room, she was called back again.

"Britt?"

"Yes, mom?"

Mrs Pierce looked at her daughter for a moment before saying, "Santana seems like a nice girl," with a smile.

As Brittany made her way across the street, she pondered on her mother's last comment. The way she had said it and the look on her face made Brittany suspect she knew about Santana being more than just a friend. She was somewhat aware that Jamie was suspecting of the two of them dating, but not her parents. Had Jamie told them? Or had she and Santana just made it blatant to see? Regardless, the fact that her mother – and probably her father – knew about Santana and both seemed content with it was what Brittany was concerned with. She smiled happily and walked up the pathway to Santana's house. A couple of seconds after she knocked on the door, Santana answered.

"Hi," said the blonde. "That was quick."

"Hi," Santana replied. "I was just passing by the door. I wasn't waiting at the bottom of the stairs for you to get here or anything. Because...that would be weird."

Brittany giggled and stepped inside the house. "Right," she said slowly. Curiously, she began to look around at the interior of Santana's house as the brunette closed the door, and then she was led into the living room.

"You have a really cool house," Brittany said as she stepped into the sitting room.

"Thank you," said a voice from behind her. It startled her a little since she was expecting a reply from Santana. Turning around swiftly, she was met with a rather short lady – shorter than Santana – with a familiar face who gave her a smile and walked forward. "It's nice to see you again, Brittany."

"Mrs Lopez," Brittany smiled. "It's nice to see you too. Sorry, I didn't know you were there."

Santana's mother giggled. "Did I startle you, dear?"

"A little," Brittany admitted.

"Santana's father should be home any minute," Mrs Lopez said. "He's just on his way from work."

Santana looked at Brittany and whispered for her benefit, "He's a doctor."

Brittany nodded. "Oh, a doctor? Cool," she smiled. "I suppose you mean a medical doctor and not a Time Lord," she whispered back, smiling.

As Santana smiled at the joke she crinkled her nose, which made Brittany smile too.

Mrs Lopez looked at the two of them and asked, "Would you two like anything to drink?"

"Yeah thanks, mom," Santana answered.

"Thank you, Mrs Lopez." Before leaving the room, Santana's mother told Brittany she could call her _Maribel_, despite the fact that Brittany seemed far too shy and polite to call her by her first name. As she made her way into the kitchen, Santana took a seat on the couch and patted the space beside her for Brittany to sit too.

Santana turned to face her. "Are you okay with meeting my parent?" she asked, suddenly conscious of the fact that she had assumed Brittany wouldn't mind without actually asking her. "Is it too soon?"

Brittany shook her head. "Course I don't mind. And besides, I've met your mom already."

Santana smiled, but look at Brittany with a hint of concern. "You do look a little nervous," she observed. "Is something the matter?"

"No," Brittany answered truthfully. "I'm just a little worried that you dad...maybe won't like me," she admitted.

"Why wouldn't he like you?" Santana frowned.

Brittany shrugged. "I don't know." She looked down.

"Well," Santana shuffled closer to her on the couch and rested her palm on top of Brittany's hand. "You're very likable. I see no reason why he wouldn't think so too," she smiled. "My dad is awesome when you get to know him, and I know he's going to love you. Just like my mom does."

"You think so?" Brittany asked, still a little unsure.

Santana nodded. "I know so."

Just as Santana's mother brought the two of them their drinks, they heard Mr Lopez walk through the door and the muffled sound of his voice as he called through the house. "I'm home."

"We're in here, dear," Santana's mother called to him.

A few moments later, after taking off his coat and shoes, he walked into the living room and kissed Mrs Lopez on the cheek. "Hello," he said. As he turned around to greet Santana he noticed a shy-looking blonde sitting beside her on the couch. "You must be Brittany," he said.

Brittany stood up – followed by Santana – and held out her hand. "Yes," she answered. "It's nice to meet you, Mr Lopez."

Just as Maribel had, he insisted she call him by his first name. "Please, call me Martin," he said as he shook her hand. "And it's nice to meet you too, Brittany."

There was a pause. And then Santana stepped forward and spoke to her parents. "If it's okay, I think I'm going to show Britt around the house now."

"Not a problem," said Maribel. "Help yourself to anything in the kitchen, Brittany. And I'm sure Santana will show you where the bathroom and such is."

"Thank you, Mrs Lo– _I mean _Maribel," Brittany said. She gave the two of them shy smiles and followed Santana out of the living room, where the brunette stopped and spun around to face her.

"So?" she said quietly.

Brittany shrugged. "I guess he seemed to like me a little bit," she said in a rather hushed voice.

"Of course he liked you. Like I said, you're very likable," she giggled.

"Oh, am I?" Brittany asked teasingly.

Santana nodded and grinned at her girlfriend. "Come on," she said. "I'll show you around." She began to lead Brittany up the stairs to her house, briefly pointing through and introducing her to the kitchen. "The kitchen is my favourite because it's where we keep all of our food, so you'll need to know where that it," Santana explained. "Food is good."

"Your favourite? What about your bedroom?" Brittany questioned.

"Okay. Second favourite."

After showing the blonde to all of the rooms around the upstairs of the house, she finally came to her bedroom and opened the door for the blonde to enter first. "It's a bit messy at the moment," she admitted.

Brittany studied the room, happy to finally get the chance to see it up close instead of glancing from a distance from across the street. Up close, it was better than Brittany had expected. Posters of bands and stacks of CDs, little decorative ornaments scattered around the room, and – as Brittany noticed almost straight away – a small keyboard resting in the corner at the foot of Santana's bed. She turned to Santana.

"You never told me you could play," she said.

Santana shrugged. "I can't really. Just a little."

"Come on," Brittany said disbelievingly. "I bet you're awesome. Will you play me something?"

"I'm not really that good...I can only play a couple of songs..."

"Please," Brittany pleaded. "Since we didn't really get to go on our second date today, maybe you can play me a song and...this could be our second date," she said, grinning.

Santana was hesitant, but with the look that Brittany was giving her she found it almost impossible to resist. Pulling up the dusty keyboard and placing it on her bed, she knelt down and patted the floor beside her. "You want to come and sit?"

Brittany nodded and sat beside the brunette, crossing her legs and watching her intently.

"I haven't played it for a while," Santana admitted to her. "So I might be a little rusty."

Brittany looked at her with her sweet blue eyes and slowly shook her head from side to side. "I doubt it," she whispered. She watched as tapped on a few keys before she began. And then she began playing the introduction to _Songbird _by Fleetwood Mac. Brittany watched her hands at first as they – almost like magic – glided along the keyboard making beautiful music, but then looked up at the girl who was making the music and studied her features. She noticed Santana's eyes concentrating on where she moved her fingers. Her lips were slightly parted. And then she began to sing the first line of the first verse ever so softly. Brittany had never heard such a sweet and angelic sound throughout her entire life. Her eyes accordingly fell to Santana's lips and watched them as they released the beautiful sound.

After singing and playing the first two verses of the song, Santana stopped and turned to Brittany. She could feel herself blushing slightly and dropped her eyes to her lap.

Brittany smiled at her softly and reached forward to take her hand. "That was so beautiful," she said quietly.

Santana looked into her eyes. "Thanks."

"You never told me you could sing either," Brittany giggled. "You're voice is amazing."

"You think so?"

Nodding quickly in response, Brittany looked down at their hands as she intertwined them. "So beautiful," she said, staring deeply into Santana's eyes.

"Thanks," Santana whispered almost silently. She found herself gazing back into Brittany's eyes almost without realising she was staring. "So, um..." she said slowly. "What did you have in mind for our little date other than persuading me to play you a song?" she asked.

Brittany shrugged. "I don't mind," she said. "Just as long as you're there, and I'm there, we can do whatever."

Santana hesitated for a moment and then leant forward to gently peck Brittany on the lips. "Cool," she grinned. "You want to watch a movie or something?" she asked.

"Sure," Brittany nodded. "Just as long as we get to do that too," she said indicatively.

"You're kind of cheeky when you want to be, aren't you?" Santana grinned at her.

"Yup," Brittany beamed.

* * *

The next day, Santana and Brittany had made plans to walk to school together and met up outside of Brittany's house. The two of them walked together and talked about whatever they could find to talk about. What Brittany found with Santana was that she was very easy to make conversation with, and if ever there was a silent moment it was always filled with a compliment about one or the other, or some other type of flirting.

They soon came to the school gates and spotted Sam and Mike chatting by the school doors. Santana turned to Brittany.

"Are you sure they won't mind me hanging out with all of you?" she asked, slightly concerned.

"Of course they won't," Brittany assured her. "Sam's cool with you now. His friends are my friends, and vice versa."

"What, your girlfriend is _his_ girlfriend?"

Brittany sighed and frowned. "Ew! You know what I mean." As she lifted her hand to poke Santana in the arm, she realised she had been holding Santana's hand. "What about everyone else?" she asked.

"What about them?"

Brittany shrugged. "Well, I know you said you kind of wanted to keep _us_ a secret from everyone at school. Which is totally fine if that's what you want, but people are going to notice us hanging out together and they might think something's up–"

Santana threaded her finders back through Brittany's. "Let them think. I'm not ashamed."

"Are you sure?" Brittany asked.

Santana gave her hand a little squeeze and nodded. "Yeah. I'm sure. Come on." She pulled Brittany by the hand and they made their way across to the front of the school to where Sam and Mike were stood.

Brittany dropped Santana's hand as they reached the two boys. "Hey," she said, catching their attention. They both looked around and smiled.

"Hey," Sam and Mike replied simultaneously.

"We were just waiting for you two," Sam said.

"_Two_?" Santana asked inquisitively.

Sam looked at her for a moment, and then gave her a nod. "Well, you're part of the group now, Lopez," he said. "Come on, class is about to start." He and Mike went inside first and Brittany and Santana followed them.

"See," Brittany whispered, just out of hearing range of the other two. "I told you they wouldn't mind."

And that was how they spent their time at school for the following days in the weeks to come. Santana actually had to admit that she enjoyed being part of Brittany's friendship group. It was much better than being the new girl and having no one to hang around with but herself all the time. Now she had Brittany to hang around with, and Sam and Mike weren't all that bad in her books.

Although Brittany and Santana had both stated that it didn't bother them who saw them together at school, they did limit the amount that they held each other's hands. Partly because they didn't want to attract any unwanted attention, but also because it was no one else's business that they were dating each other. And it seemed to work since they were hardly ever bothered by anyone else. It just seemed that everyone else was too caught up in themselves to notice, what with them being in high school; full of drama. And since Santana had joined the _"nerdy"_ group as people had referred to them, she found herself being noticed less and less by other kids at the school, which suited her just fine.

Weeks passed and Brittany's relationship with Santana developed. They were having fun, going on "dates", complimenting each other at every single moment they got. Brittany rubbed it in Sam's face at every chance she got to get him back for him and Mike acting sickeningly sweet in front of her. They were almost impossible to separate. And the fact that they could see each other from the windows of their bedrooms did not help the matter.

As time passed by, Brittany's feelings for Santana just grew stronger; she adored everything about the girl. Santana was beautiful, she was very intelligent for her age, she was funny when she wanted to be – and even when she didn't mean to be. Like the time that she _accidently_ got chased by a duck because she had _accidently_ misplaced a little bit of bread which had _accidently_ found its way into the back of her shoe. Of course it was an accident. But even squealing and running away from a hungry duck, Brittany thought Santana was perfect. And she wanted to tell her how she felt about her. But what if it was too soon? Or what if Santana didn't feel the same way about her? Or what if she freaked out a little? Or a lot?

Brittany had once learned that you should always be truthful about the way you feel about someone. Santana may not feel the same way about her, but at least she'll know how special she is to her. And that was the point. She just wanted Santana to know how she felt she wanted to make her feel special and loved. And show her that she is the best girl in the world to her.

Santana had invited her to hang out in her bedroom for the afternoon – as usual – where the two of them sat together listening to music. They sat beside each other on Santana's bed with two pillows propped up horizontally behind their backs against the backboard, and Brittany drew patterns on Santana's arm with her index finger. Her thoughts were away in _Happyville_ thinking about Santana as she watched her subtly from the corner of her eye.

"You have good taste in music," Brittany told her girlfriend. Santana looked across at her and grinned.

"You told me that last week, Britt. You tell me that every week," she said, amused. "But thanks anyway. Again."

Brittany shrugged and lazily turned her head to fully look at Santana. "Well it must be true then," she said.

Santana smiled happily and kissed Brittany on the nose. "You're so cute."

Brittany scrunched her nose and closed her eyes briefly. She thought she would get used to Santana's compliments, and her touches, and her just being absolutely adorable whenever she was around, but she hadn't gotten used to it. Not yet, anyway. And, if she was honest, she never thought she would get used to it. But that was a good thing in her mind. It meant that every single thing that Santana did would always be special and leave a little tingle in the middle of Brittany's heart, and that was a good thing.

"Santana?" she said quietly.

"Mm hm?" Santana had closed her eyes now.

"Can I talk to you about something?" Brittany asked. Santana opened her eyes and turned to face the blonde. She looked rather concerned, and so Brittany assured her it was nothing bad. "Don't look so concerned," she said.

"Okay." Santana's face softened slightly. "What is it?" she asked.

Brittany pushed herself forward on the bed and crossed her legs, facing Santana as she did the same. "Well," she said.

"Are you sure this isn't anything bad?" Santana asked. "You're not breaking up with me, are you?"

Brittany sighed and stared at Santana for a moment.

"Okay, sorry," Santana apologised. "What is it?"

"Well..." Brittany was by no means the best at speaking to people, especially about personal things. And this was certainly one of those personal things. "It's just that..."

"Britt, you are sort of worrying me a little," Santana said honestly. "What is it?" she asked impatiently.

Brittany smiled and stared into the girl's eyes. _"__You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams."_

"What's that?" Santana asked with a smile.

"Dr Seuss," Brittany said. "I guess...what I'm trying to say is that...we've been together for some time...and we...I sort of...I don't know how to say it..." she stuttered shyly.

Santana's eyes were staring intently into Brittany's. She shuffled closer to her on the bed and slipped her fingers through hers. "Just say it," she pleaded, her voice soft. "And I'll say it back. I promise."

"You really mean that?" Brittany asked.

Santana nodded. "I've wanted to tell you too for a while now but...I didn't know any cool Dr Seuss quotes."

Brittany laughed and looked directly into Santana's eye. Now it felt right, this was the right moment because she knew Santana was going to say it back. And mean it. They weren't just words that had been put together to create a sentence that didn't mean anything; they were a declaration of what she felt inside her heart for this amazing girl sat in front of her.

"I love you, Santana," Brittany whispered. "I really do."

Santana smiled widely and squeezed Brittany hands happily. "Say it again."

"I love you."

"One more time."

Rolling her eyes playfully, Brittany leapt forward and wrestled Santana to the bed, tickling her stomach briefly. She repeated for the third time, "I love you."

"I love you too," Santana whispered.

"Say it again," giggled Brittany.

"I love you," said Santana with a grin.

"One more time."

"I love you, Britt-Britt."

**FIN.**

**So, this was the last chapter of my fanfic. Thank you to everyone who took the time to read it and comment on it. All of you are awesome and I really appreciate it! And I hope you have enjoyed reading it. **

**Thanks! :)**


	23. Author's Notes

**Author's Notes**

I just want to say thank you to everyone who read _The Girl With the Midnight Eyes_. Most of the comments made me smile and I am so glad a lot of people out there enjoy my writing.

I know a lot of people have asked me if I am going to write a sequel. I wasn't planning on writing a sequel to this story as such but I may proceed to write one shots or shorter stories in the future.

Thank you again! The Brittana fandom really is filled with amazing people :)

xx


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